


Heart Break Warfare

by fat_coffee_mugs



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Eventual Smut, F/M, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Prisoner of War, Raven Tail, fairy tail - Freeform, laxus is a jackass with puppy dog eyes, warfare
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-05
Updated: 2015-09-22
Packaged: 2018-02-16 07:20:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 39,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2260905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fat_coffee_mugs/pseuds/fat_coffee_mugs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Laxus and Gajeel don't have the full report of what's going on. They just know Ivan sent them on a mission, and they had better do it if they didn't want the crap beaten out of them. They just had to kidnap two Fairy Tail assassins-- Cana Alberona and Levy McGarden. Simple, right? Wrong. Ravens and fairies teeter on the edge absolute warfare, but can love and other misguided feelings get in their path? // [This work has been discontinued.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Insignificant Coincidences on Study

**Author's Note:**

> HEY there little laxana shippers! this is my first fanfic on ao3. the same story is posted on fanfiction.net (with 6 chapters by now), under my username fat-coffee-mugs. this is basically me revising the story's chapters and expanding its viewing audience by keeping them here too. alrighty then. this story is mainly laxana, but gajevy is the side pairing. warning for mature content and graphic violence in future chapters.

**GAJEEL**

"You have to be kidding!" Gajeel shouted, his eyes filled with disbelief at the words coming out of his partner's mouth.

He sat in the center of the lobby of his workplace. One would hardly call an magical assassin's guild a workplace though. True enough, the space was actually quite decent. Soft beige couches were plumped and arranged around a small glass table that sported a collection of Fiore Weekly. A small information booth filled with local maps and tourist pamphlets stood in the corner, next to several potted plants. To the side of the room was a small doorway leading to the actual attractions that held many shopping stores and food places convenient for busy travelers. A high-manner restroom sulked at the end of the hallway.

Other than that, the room was mostly empty, with an exception of the mahogany walls lined with paintings and photos of the association's past—oh but of course, having such a stately manner and all, one would never suspect. However, under the false cover of being a rest-stop on a highway road outside of the city Magnolia, Raven Tail was indeed a high functioning assassin league, equipped with some of the most deadly mages known and unknown to the world.

Gajeel Redfox, one of the top respected workers of the association, and an iron eating mage, sat in the uncomfortably soft couches with incredulous eyes boring into those of his partner, Laxus Dreyar. Laxus, known for his horrific powers of lightning and thunder, sat on the couch opposite to him, eyes wary and muscles aching to rest. He leaned back into the cushioning and tried to calm down his clearly aggravated friend. "Look Gajeel, I won't be on the job either. Master Ivan has me out on scouting too, so it's nothing personal. After all, Freed is going to—"

"THAT BASTARD IS GONNA BE THERE?!" Gajeel practically screamed. Luckily the men were alone in the lobby, but nonetheless Laxus knew he had to stop his friend's loudness before someone else heard them and came to see what was going on.

Still, Gajeel fumed. Wasn't he supposed to be respected here? Was he not one of the most talented assassins Raven Tail exhibited? How was he being humiliated, after everything he had put into these people? Obviously, the Master needed him for the most important quest at the time, so why was he being kept out of the mission, and instead given a simple scout-and-capture task? That too, to have the snot-nosed Freed on the mission only insulted Gajeel even more. Why did Laxus not understand how wrong this was?

"Gajeel, you need to calm down, you're going to attract attention!" Laxus hissed, eying the man quite angrily now. Gajeel would have argued, but he knew Laxus was correct. Although the lobby was deserted, both men knew that only one flight of stairs separated them from the main headquarters and dormitories of the other league members. Gossip in this building spread like wildfire.

Gajeel couldn't rest his mind, knowing that he won't be the one on the front lines, and instead being set back for such a puny task… UGH! Gajeel punched the pillow next to him in frustration, but it simply puffed back up into its regular plump manner. "So," Gajeel started, failing miserably at his attempt to keep his voice even. "What's our job? Who are we looking for?"

Laxus fished out a stack of yellow papers from inside his large fur coat and spread them on the glass table. There were two pictures, of two girls', and with each girl came one of too small squares of paper loaded with information on the whereabouts and occupations of the suspects. Laxus began to speak.

"Our two suspects—Miss Levy McGarden and Cana Alberona. Both elite members of the top-notch spy association better known as Fairy Tail," Laxus explained, sitting forward. Gajeel twitched at the sound of their rivals; Fairy Tail. After all, even though Raven Tail was technically a legal guild, everyone knew that they had some evil brewing in their motives. And even by Master Ivan's tongue was their opposing guild's name spoken with revulsion in this building. "Anyway, our task at hand is take them down and bring them here"-Laxus noticed the evil grin forming on Gajeel's face—"alive" — the grin became a pout, "and the Master will be wanting to interrogate them." He finished.

Gajeel suddenly sat forward, his chin coming to rest on his propped up elbows. This was interesting. Fairy Tail mages were rarely brought in for interrogations… "So, this Cana and Levy. What's so special about some random chicks? I've never heard of them before." Gajeel inquired, frowning a bit.

"Have you really not? Their names are quite popular in Magnolia. Miss McGarden is one of the closest to their master, Mockorav, and famous there for her quick wit and script magic. She's going to be the guest of honor, as Master Ivan phrases it. She better know what's coming to her." Laxus said, shivers being sent down his own spine. He knew that the Master showed no mercy—he would not hesitate to harm the girl in order to get whatever is was that he wanted.

"And the Alberona? What's her significance?" Gajeel asked dully, staring into empty space.

"Ah, Miss Alberona. She can tell the future." At this, Gajeel's head snapped up. Laxus smirked. " Can I rephrase that? She deals in the arts of card magic, her specialty a rare known method known as katarone reading. They say she can predict the outcome of a week's fortune, of a crop's outcome, just with one glance at her cards. Quite amazing actually," he noted. "I would look forward to meeting her in person. Even if Master intends on using her magic for his own gain, he is definitely also seeking her out for her history in the guild. She's a local celebrity in Magnolia, having lived there her entire life. She's recognized to be a heavy drinker, but is always in good terms with the local government, having helped solve several cases over the years. They say she was orphaned as a small child and left outside some orphanage in town. She's lived there ever since." Laxus informed, ending his story.

Gajeel brought himself to look over the new information presented to him. In the first picture was a petite looking girl, with straggly blue locks adorning her small face. Gajeel's eyes widened in surprise- the blue hair, the petite figure… was that the same woman he had seen in the library before? _Come on Gajeel, don't be an idiot_ , he tried to tell himself. There was no way that was the same person. After all, all he had seen of the person was blue hair- that was common in Fiore, right?

Gajeel tried to shake it off, but it lingered peskily in the back of his mind. He duly noted that she was as threatening as a baby panda, though. He doubted how old she even was… the information declared her as nineteen years of age. Woah.

The second picture showed a much taller woman than the first, chocolate-brown hair reaching down to the edge of her breasts. Her age was classified as twenty. She looked to be a bit more of a challenge, and her papers told him she was the cards one, so she he would have to look out for. Either way, he was up to the challenge. He hadn't had a good fight with someone outside Raven Tail for some time now.

Gajeel knew that he shouldn't be complaining about things like not being in the first battles, but he couldn't help it. Although no one dared to admit it out loud, both Fairy Tail and Raven Tail were inching closer and closer towards downright war. Of course, the blame was put on the ravens, since they had been the first to attack. Just two weeks earlier, Master Ivan had sent the guild's most fearsome, Gildarts himself, and Gajeel to attack the Fairy Tail guild home. Although no one had been hurt, the place being empty at the time of the attack, the building had been horrifically damaged and was clearly meant to collapse soon enough.

In times like this, each move that their league made had to be precise and planned, the stakes being as high as they were. Both associations were simply watching each other, waiting for the other to let their guard down so as to strike them when they are vulnerable.

Gajeel snapped out of his deep train of thoughts. His natural excitement for fighting and action returned to him. "So?" he began enthusiastically, "Where's the fairy's home base? When we leavin'? Cause I pumped to go right now if you're up to—"

"We're leaving tomorrow at noon. The total journey from here to downtown Magnolia will take a few hours, so we'll need a fresh start. Sorry, but I have some work I need to get done before we leave. The rest of the locations' details are up in here," Laxus said, pointing to his head. "I don't know about you, but I'm done for the day." He lifted himself off of the cushions and started towards the information booth, Gajeel following him. They slipped into the small booth and unlocked the secret doorway. Swinging the door open noiselessly, Laxus walked up the narrow stairway, Gajeel behind him clambering quite noisily.

Gajeel trudged through the dimly lit corridor. The wood under him creaked, and the flickering lanterns sauntering the hallways were fading fast. He had been called into the master's office for who knows what reason- oh wait, he did. HE, stupid, stupid, son of a bitch Gajeel had fucked up the ONE time he was put trust in. Walking down the endless hallway, Gajeel reflected on the past days' events.

_He climbed from one vent to another, Gildarts hot on his tail._

_"Hurry up man! I don't need your huge ass in my face for so long." Gildarts muttered sourly. Gajeel growled in response._

_"If we're too loud, people might hear us. This is a fucking spy mission, we kind of need to be slow!" Gajeel whisper-shouted._

_"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Gildartz grumbled. They turned left at the next intersection. They hadn't shot down the building yet- that wasn't until the afternoon, when the master informed them that the guild would be empty. Why Master Ivan didn't just let them attack when everyone was there, which seemed pretty spanking convenient to him, Gajeel would never know. It was best not to question the master though. That kept you out of the most trouble._

_At the moment their only task was to retrieve some special book from Fairy Tail's master's office. Gildartz had already taken it and met up with Gajeel in the vents, where Gajeel was waiting for him, silently. Then they would exit the building, and return to Raven Tail._

_Suddenly the thumping of the old man behind his knees stopped. Gajeel looked around him. "What?" he asked irritated._

_Gildartz looked silent for a moment, then broke out into one of those creepy grins old men get when they realized just how to conquer their opponent in chess. He tossed the heavy book into Gajeel path and held up two fingers in a peace sign before his entire body pixilated, and vanished._

_"What the- shit!" Gajeel cursed, realising that the bastard had just probably magically transported himself out of there while leaving Gajeel to continue following the dark and cramped passageway. That too, he had left him with the book that seemed to weigh a MILLION pounds! It weighed down Gajeel, making his route probably even longer than it was expected to be._

_Gajeel kept crawling though, muttering some very diverse curses under his breath as he went. He could hear jeering, laughs, shouting and loud music blasting underneath him. The vents echoed with the so close yet so distant loud and happy sounds. Gajeel wondered what made a guild so excited. At Raven Tail, you finished a job, killed a person, whatever it was, and you were considered a good guild member. Maybe, if you were, lucky, the master would nod at you or something when you came in in the morning. Other than that, to be a part of Raven Tail you had to be ruthless, there was no fun. You didn't have friends, you had fellow members, most who couldn't be trusted behind your back._

_Gajeel didn't understand how the people below him could possibly be so high-spirited. Growing up in slums, and then being brought in to Raven Tail as a child, home, comfort, love- they were foreign concepts in his mind._

_He turned right at the next vent and kept crawling. Soon the ruckus died down, and silence echoed creepily once again. Deciding to stop for a breather, Gajeel lay on his back. He was probably 3 feet too tall, and 100 pounds too heavy for this ventilation system, so god knows how he even fit. After a moment, he tried to move but found that he was stuck. He wriggled and smashed around the small way, forgetting that he was supposed to be silent. He continued to struggle, until a dissatisfying groan sounded._

_Gajeel froze. It was silent for a moment. Then-_

_CRASH!_

_Gajeel fell through the ceiling and crashed onto the hardwood floor below him. He was covered in white dust and pieces of wood. He very much noted the splinters covering his arm, thank you. But as soon as he landed, Gajeel had to get out. There was no one in the room (it was a library, it seemed) but he knew that he had made enough noise to attract someone's attention. He scurried over to a wall of shelves and used its platforms to crawl up the wall. He dropped a few books, but soon he was safe in shadows of the ceiling._

_Suddenly the doors opened. Gajeel's body went rigid._

_He saw a small figure (probably female) with a bushel of cerulean hair bouncing on top of it walk hesitantly in. He watched her carefully as she maneuvered around to the corner of the room, sat down in a huge armchair, pulling out a small book. At first Gajeel thought he would wait her out- I mean, who spent more than half an hour or so reading these days? But then minutes became hours, and Gajeel was still structured cramply above a bookshelf. He was about to consider making a run for it, when she sneezed._

_Gajeel swore it was the cutest sneeze ever invented. It was dainty and small, just like her. Gajeel was even about to result to saying words like kawaii when he realized he had been in this place too long. He reached towards the ceiling where his hole still was, hoping the dim lighting of the library was still masking his presence. He hauled himself up, but almost got himself stuck in the hole. His foot caught, and a few boards fell to the ground._

_Shit. He had blew it._

_Gajeel saw the girl look up from her book, eyes widening when she realized there was someone else in the room. Their eyes caught for a moment, and then Gajeel was off, scurrying and crawling like a mad man._

_Only thirty minutes later, after finally making it out of the back of the guild building and meeting up with Gildarts, did realize that he didn't have the special book with him. Shit, Shit,_

"Shit!" Gajeel cursed to himself once again. How could he have been so careless? And now the master was asking to see him? He was definitely in for something this time.

Gajeel finally turned right into the next swerving hallway and found the only golden door amidst the pale brown ones. He gripped the handle firmly and swung it open. The walls were pearl white, pristine mahogany desk and drawers and all. It had neatly trimmed violets in every corner, and, smack dab in the middle, was the most disturbing scene Gajeel had ever walked in on.

Ivan was sitting in a big office chair, a voluptuous young woman quite un-innocently straddling his hips. The entire front of her scarlet red strapless dress had slid down, exposing a pale bare back to Gajeel. She was silent as their tongues molded and meshed together messily, saliva and tongue dripping about, while his hands slid in and out of her dress. Before he could fully pull it off her, Gajeel disgustedly cleared his throat.

The woman jumped and landed on the floor at the noise, scrambling to pull her dress up and hide her open chest. She flushed a deep red, but Ivan simply brushed off his shirt and make a grunting sound.

"That will be enough, Flare. Thank you." he announced quite formally, as if he wasn't a guild master just walked in on having near sex with one of his guilds' members.

Flare hurried out the door, not meeting her eyes with Gajeel's. Ivan gestured to a seat across from the desk, but Gajeel was still too disturbed to move. "You wanted to see me Master?" he said asked stiffly.

Ivan simply leaned back in his chair. "Want to get straight to the point, eh Gajeel? Just like you." he said chuckling. Gajeel crossed his arms over his chest and stood solitary, not replying. It stayed like that for a while, Ivan looking over Gajeel and Gajeel standing there, face devoid of emotion. God, did Ivan love to fuck with their minds like that. Gajeel finally gave in and repeated, "Why did you want to see me?"

Ivan sighed, as if Gajeel had done exactly what he wasn't supposed to do. "Want to get straight to it? Fine. Where's my book?"

Gajeel looked away. "I don't have it."

Gajeel saw the flash of white and felt and sharp material roughly graze his cheek before it was even aimed at him. He grunted in pain to see that the master already had his storm of shikagami paper dolls surrounding him. The cruel man raised his arm again and brought it down in another violent motion. Gajeel felt the immense pressure slide up his jaw and then punch him down again, sending him to Ivan's feet. Gajeel panted. As simple magic as it was, Ivan's was the most feared and most painful.

Ivan leered at him. "So where is it? Why did you fail!" he asked loudly, sending another wave of razor-edged paper into Gajeel, forcibly shoving him against the wall.

"I apologize Master, it will not happen aga-" Gajeel was cut off my another round of of dolls being shoved into his stomach. He coughed and doubled over in pain, gasping for air.

"I don't care if it won't happen again! I didn't want it to happen, ever!" The older man suddenly yelled, spitting on Gajeel's hunched over figure shamefully. Red clouded Gajeel's vision. He could have fought back, but that would only lead to worse punishment- that enough he knew. Gajeel felt himself being fiercely pushed up against the wall, Ivan's hands gripped around his neck. He gasped for air.

"You will NEVER fail me again, you hear me? NEVER. Failing is not an option in Raven Tail!" Ivan said in a low, feral voice. His face was emotionless, but his eyes were those of a beast. Gajeel weakly spit out some blood.

"Y-yes Master," he rasped out. Ivan dropped him, and he hit the floor. Hard.

"Get out of my sight." The man spat disgusted at the mass lying at his feet. Gajeel pulled himself together and left the room. As soon as the door closed behind him, he sprinted as fast as he could away from it.

\------

**CANA**

"Levy!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to!"

"Just how clumsy can you be?!"

"I, uh, sorry! I'll help you! Please, it was an accident, I swear!"

Cana Alberona grumbled to herself as she carefully gathered her strewn across cards from the floor and shifted them to the safer, more elevated, bar. Leave it to Levy, the world's biggest klutz, she thought grumpily to herself. Fixing herself on the bar, and ignoring Levy's continuous apologies, Cana spread the cards out once more before her.

Luckily, none were permanently damaged. A few had been bent in the corners, and one had scratches from the bottom of Levy's shoes, but that would quickly fade away. Cana resumed her previous activities, from before she had been rudely interrupted. She set up her cards in the certain formation she was used to when practicing her card magic. Creating seven piles, she slowly continued her work, shifting a card from one pile every now and then or turning one over the occasional dormant.

Finally, Cana resulted with the three piles she had formed before Levy had blindly walked into the hall with her nose in her book and trampled all over her precious babies. Cana wasn't exactly... what you consider a normal mage. She had magic inside of her, like others, but most of her abilities came from holding objects. That too, she had developed her magic from someone else's teaching, so she had never been a complete natural. Cana chided herself for blindly slipping into her own thoughts, and turned her focus back on the cards in front of her.

Cana had been practicing her daily fortune telling ritual that concerned long periods of time's predictions before she had been interrupted. She took the first card and flipped it, like she would usually do.

The first card was Battle. This one, Cana saw almost every week. Fairy Tail had many enemies, seeing as they were usually to ones to damper the fire on any evil conspirator's plans. That tends to annoy people. Plus the missions they went on almost always ended in fighting or destroying parts of Magnolia. Conclusion; Battle makes Fairy Tail.

Next card; Nakama. This wasn't a rare one either, but it wasn't so common either. Cana still brushed it off, after all, Fairy Tail was basically on the verge of war, so it would reasonable that family was important. They were in a situation where they needed to stick together. Cana turned over the last card.

It had two silhouettes on it, their bodies intertwined. The rest of the card was decorated with hearts and ribbons surrounding the couple.

_Lovers._

Cana blinked, and tried to establish whether or not she was imagining things. This was the first time this card had ever come up… It was almost always shuffled into the back of her deck, forgotten. But… lovers? How on Earthland would that relate to her, or the guild for that matter? They were on battle turf, not safe grounds… Affection and personal matters werent really a main item. Cana hadn't gone on a date in maybe over a year.

Still thinking hard, but not finding any answers, Cana assumed that she would put it off until she noticed something out of the ordinary.

She looked around. The guildhall was empty except for her and Levy. The mahogany bars that she loved so much were dusted and scraped, much to her dismay. The cabinets had all collapsed, shattered glassware pooling out, and no one had bothered to clean it up. Tables and some chairs had fallen out, and yes, the most obvious result of the douchebag attack on Fairy Tail, the enormous metal rods bulging out of the walls and ceiling.

Cana shivered just remembering the day.

It had been a warm Sunday, and Mirajane had just come back from some modeling shoot. It had apparently been a pretty huge deal, because afterwards she and Lisanna had taken all of the kids out for lunch, on her. While the adults had taken a day off, Cana had gone to share company with the Strauss siblings, as well as some of the other teenagers. The guild hall had been completely devoid of anyone there. That was when the attack happened.

Cana remembered coming back from chaperoning lunch with Mirajane, to see the guild in tears and wears, on the brink of utter destruction. She remembered seeing Wendy Marvell break down in tears, she and Romeo having to going over to comfort her.

Cana tightened her grip on the bar, hands shaking slightly. Whoever had done that must have been pretty damn powerful. She knew that Raven Tail was a big deal, but never before had she even suspected that they would go this far. They had picked the perfect day to announce absolute warfare.

"Hey, Levy?" Cana asked, turning to her friend in order to pull herself away from her bitter train of thoughts.

"Hm." The script-mage kept her eyes glued to the book in front of her.

"Levy, come on, talk to me, I'm bored." Cana tried again.

"Okay, Cana, that's cool."

"LEVY!" This time Cana ripped the book from her partner's dainty fingers.

"Hey! Give it back." Levy pleaded with her, looking at the book she had been absorbed in now out of her reach. Cana simply held it above her head, smirking as her the bluenette bounced around and struggled desperately to take it back.

"No. You're boring me. What's so interesting about this book anyway, huh?" Cana inquired, looking at it for the first time. It was shabby, maroon and clearly outdated. Its binding was already falling apart, and the edges of the cover curled upward. Several colored tabs were jutting out of its pages, but most had already falling out, as a matter of fact, some had already stuck to Cana's hand as she held it. On the cover were the gold print words, "FAIRY TAIL PROPERTY", and then, scrawled smally under it, Jolie Romane, the letters messy and cramped.

Levy made a protesting sound, obviously not having wanted her friend to see the book, but Cana's eyes were already as wide as saucers.

"What are you doing with Fairy Tail property? Who's Jolie Romane? Where'd you find this?" Cana asked quickly, turning the book over. The back was scratched and bruised up, even scorched in a few areas.

Levy looked away, flushed. She paused in her grappling attempts to look at the ground. "Well, you see… the other day… " she stopped again, clearly nervous about the subject. Cana understood the situation and took it that this was something serious. She sat back down on her stool and told Levy reassuringly, "You know you can tell me anything, right Levy?"

Levy sighed and looked up to meet Cana's eyes. They were utterly sincere.

"Okay, okay. I'll start by telling you how it all happened…"

_Levy scurried away, tripping over her own feet as she zoomed through each corridor. She looked over her shoulder, but her teammates were no where to be seen. Sighing, she took this as the chance to stop running. She slouched against the wall, panting._

_She had found, even after almost ten years of being at the guild, Jet and Droy still couldn't seem to give her a minute alone. They were always around her, either bickering endlessly or talking crap about how they had some huge reason to protect her from anyone and everyone. She loved her best friends, but sometimes she really needed a break!_

_She had been escaping, then, after the two had started shouting like children, leaving her just NO space to read her book peacefully. At first she had stealthily sneaked into the next hallway, but after hearing them call out after her, she had broke out into an absolute run, leaving the main hall in her dust._

_After having caught her breath, she slipped into the nearest room. It was a library, much to Levy's satisfaction. Each wall was filled head-to-toe with shelves jutting out, novels thick to small resting anciently on them. There were comfy armchairs scattered around, and low hanging oil lamps shining sluggishly. The entire room smelled of petrichor and - Levy's genuine favorite- print. She inhaled deeply,a smile stretching across her face. She walked over to the armchair on the opposite side of the room, in a cozy corner isolated completely for herself. There was complete silence. Levy loved it._

_She pulled out the small novel she had unsuccessfully tried to read in between Jet and Droy and happily endorsed herself in it once more. Hours ticked away and Levy was sitll in the same position she had been in before, curled up in the armchair with the book snuggled warmly in her arms._

_Suddenly, there was a small crash as some wooden planks fell to the floor. Levy snapped out of her chair and just then noticed the gaping hole in the ceiling, where plaster and wood was raining down from. For a second, her eyes met with two red orbs, but then they vanished and quick as they had appeared, they were gone. Levy blinked in confusion. What had just happened? Was that a person just now?_

_After a few moments of waiting, Levy realized nothing else was going to happen, and took survey. There was still debris laying lazily on the ground, and, yes, the hole in the ceiling was still very much there. Next to her, Levy just noticed, was a small leatherbound book. It was scratched up and covered by some wood pieces, but Levy dug it out and picked it up, never taking her eyes off the title. FAIRY TAIL PROPERTY._

Cana listened intently as Levy finished her story. "So that's it? It just fell from the ceiling?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah," Levy answered, still kind of wound up. "But I could have swore there was a person up there Cana!"

"Hm.." Cana muttered thoughtfully to herself. "This could be important. You should tell the master."

Levy sighed and ran her hand through her blue locks. "I know, I know. I've been trying to catch up to him recently, but he's just been so busy, what with the current situation… I don't know if something like this would help or just worry him even more." Levy tiredly confided. Cana continued to think to herself. Was it possible that someone from Raven Tail had broken in? Were they in danger?

"It's probably just some more damage from the attack, you know?" Levy said more to herself than Cana, even though that didn't fully explain what she had seen.

"Yeah. Probably." Cana lied. She took another swig from her mug. She flipped open the book, only to find blank pages. Confused, she looked further on, for some kind of indentations, or text, but it was all BLANK.

Levy saw that the brunette had noticed too and added, "Yeah, I tried magic and everything, there just isn't anything in there. Weird, right? It looks as if this book has gone all around the world and back, yet, nothing." Cana had reached the end of the book and held it up to the the overhead lamp, as if checking if there were hidden words or something coded in there. She started flipping through it again.

"But then, what were you doing before? With the reading, and the ignoring me, and being like totally involved with this thing?" Cana questioned incredulously. Levy just pulled off her red reading glasses and showed them to her friend.

"I've been trying to use my Gale-Force Reading Glasses, you know, the ones I use for speed-reading and stuff? They usually get through anything," Levy explained, "but nothing so far. I can't find anything." she admitted frustratedly.

Cana looked absentmindedly at the book again and then handed it back to Levy. She downed the contents of her drink, teetering slightly in her seat. The alcohol aroused her, setting her senses into overdrive. She loved that intoxication effect it could have on her, sending her adrenaline pumping and putting her on the fine line separating sanity and- well, the other thing.

Her eyes focused on the hazel eyes still staring dependently at her. Cana sighed. Why was life so stressful these days?


	2. Of Juvenile Cognizances and Warm Tuesday Stew

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which laxus ignores his usual reasonal self and revisits a childhood memory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: lots of fluff and laxana. also cana is a strong wonderful woman dont forget that.

**Laxus**

Laxus groaned and trudged on lazily. The nauseating heat poured onto his back like an extra forty pounds to carry, and the fact that his trainers had long ago worn out and were supplying his feet with unwelcomed blisters didn't comfort his mood either. Five hours. Five _fucking_ hours, they had been on that god- forsaken train. Only to remember that they had another hour long walk in front of them. Perfect.

Sweat sheened brightly over Laxus' forehead, and his shirt clung to his back like a baby to its mother. Their trip was probably worse than they needed to be. First-Gildarts had been away on a mission, when he probably could've got Gajeel and Laxus to their destination in a matter of minutes. Secondly, as dragon-slayer mages, they had HORRIBLE motion-sickness, and so one train, even though it was already hell for any other passenger, was ten times worse for Gajeel and Laxus. It was already late in the evening, maybe six or seven, and they were starving, not having eaten since noon. There was only ten minutes left of walking- then they would supposedly reach the oh-so-mighty Fairy Tail.

Laxus didn't know what to think about that. He was supposed to kidnap these two girls, right? Laxus didn't really care. He was the strongest mage, he could definitely defeat two little girls. He hadn't even bothered to look at the pictures of them. He just knew that the master had assigned him a job, and he should probably do it, or get the crap beaten out of him. Laxus chuckled bitterly under his breath. Should he really be calling his own father "Master"? Yeah, Laxus was Ivan's son. Did that change anything? Of course not. Other than the fact that his father had decided to let him stay in his guild instead of kicking out onto the streets already. How loving, he knew.

Still, life was as hellish for Laxus as it was for the rest of guild members- no special treatment whatsoever. Laxus sighed. He didn't even know why he was in that guild. He had no huge emotional attachment to his father, and could probably run away and make it on his own if he tried. Hell, he had been a legal adult for almost five years. So for the money? Maybe for the fame. But then again, ravens were rarely given names in the media.

No, though, Laxus didn't really care what those other people thought about him. Probably the fact that he hated Fairy Tail's guild masters' guts, yeah, that might be a pretty reasonable motivation. Did he forget to mention the fact that almost every fucking single problem in his life had been because of that old man, the man he didn't even know? It had been him that brought his father into jail before, almost completely disconnecting Laxus from the only family he had. It had been because of that guy that Laxus had spent seventeen long years in Marie Adah's Foster Home, and called an orphan.

Laxus thought back to those days. Those happened to be the easiest, most carefree days of his life- he had never had his father there to beat him, he had actually had friends. The nuns were kind, and they used to tell him and the other children stories before they went to bed.

Laxus smiled to himself a little bit, then told himself not to; No, those were NOT good days. Makarov What's-His-Face was the reason father went to jail, Laxus reprimanded himself. He just had to remember that Makarov was the enemy of Laxus and Ivan Durhams, and that was that.

Laxus looked up. "Stop." He told Gajeel. His partner looked back at him, confused. The walk was supposed to have gone a little bit longer.

Laxus glanced at the path to his right. It looked oddly familiar… Could it be? _No_ , Laxus told himself, _don't think about what's not possible_. Still, Laxus' curiosity overcame his more reasonable side. "Why don't you rest for a bit? I'll go look for some food." he lied easily, turning to his partner.

Gajeel raised his eyebrow suspiciously. "Since when do you offer to do work?" he asked, snorting.

Laxus got a little peeved at this. "I'm gonna go look for something to eat, okay? Just wait here." he said finally, making it clear that he wasn't asking Gajeel's permission.

Gajeel muttered something under his breath and motioned with his hand to go. "Do what you gotta do, just bring me something too," he said, already plopping himself onto the nearest bench and closing his eyes for a nap. Laxus sighed and began to walk down the faded cobblestone. He was just surprised he had suggested it before Gajeel did, the lazy dimwit.

As soon as he said that, he corrected himself. Gajeel might be one of the laziest and disagreeable men he knew, but he was also probably one of the most powerful. Perhaps even as powerful as Laxus himself. That's saying something.

He also made a hell of a partner.

Further down the path, he could see small children chasing each other through the tall grasses. Despite himself, Laxus smiled a bit. This was it. The orphanage he had been sent to all these years ago. It looked almost exactly the same as it had back then. The same brick walls covered head-to-toe with lush green ivory, the same tall green fields that shown with joy and at-ease juvenility, and the same rattly old sign hanging from a post that read "MOTHER MARIE ADAH'S ORPHANAGE" in large, bold words. The path soon turned into soft dirt, leaving the cobblestone urbanity of the city behind. There were two buildings, one was the Main House, where the dormitories lay along with the Mess Hall, and the other a church. There were kids from all ages either playing, talking, or basking in the warm but wintry sunlight. Laxus couldn't help but feel a little longing to join them. He hadn't experienced such carefreeness in years. Not since his father had taken him away right after his seventeenth birthday.

Laxus, deciding that he had stayed long enough, was about to head back to where Gajeel was when he heard a strangled cry.

A small boy maybe around the age of twelve had burst out of the Main House. He ran messily, tripping over his already scabby knees more than several times, waving his hands around exasperatedly.

"Please! Please, someone help! Mother Adah is hurt, someone please help!" he shouted desperately, looking towards some of the bigger kids lounging around.

"Yeah right. Why don't you stop lying and just go back inside?" one of them said annoyedly.

"I'm not lying! She really is hurt!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah, we've heard it all before Jonah. You can end the act." another called.

"I'm _not_ lying!" the boy exclaimed again, this time a little more peeved. The kids just turned away, ignoring him.

Laxus, deciding the scene was over, turned around again. He had only taken a few steps when, again, he was stopped, this time by someone tugging him by the arm.

"Mister, you have to help me, please, my teacher is hurt." the boy cried. Laxus looked at him surprised. He really never believed that any little boy would have the guts to touch such an intimidating man like him, much less talk to him. Laxus' shock quickly wore off and he rewore his stoic mask. He tried to shake him off, but the kid wouldn't budge.

"Buzz off kid, get someone else to help you." Laxus growled, trying to scare him away. The boy remained defiant, small hands still clutched tightly around Laxus' arm.

"Please, I need your help," the boy said again, his voice wavering. Laxus sighed irritably. This kid was annoying. Deciding that there wasn't much chance of the boy leaving without Laxus hurting him, Laxus gave a slight nod of the head.

The boy beamed and excitedly tried to hug Laxus, which Laxus avoided by holding the boy away with his arm. "Thank you, thank you so much Mister!" the boy yelled happily.

A few kids looked at him suspiciously, and Laxus took this as a sign that he had to speed things up. "You said someone was hurt?" Laxus reminded him. The small boy stopped trying to embrace Laxus and said again, "Yes, my teacher. Come on, I'll show you."

The boy suddenly began running up the path again, dragging Laxus with him, towards the Main House. Laxus easily kept up with him, but he noted that the boy was pretty fast for his youth. After a few minutes of running, they reached the house and bolted up stairs, the boy pushing quite noisily through the doors. The sprinted through numerous hallways, the boy leading, and luckily they seemed to deserted. Laxus didn't want too much questioning.

They finally reached a large set of brass doors at the end of a hallway. The boy pushed them open to reveal a prodigious library, bright and colorful mosaics staining the glass walls. Along the sides lay row after row of shelves, all overflowing from a myriad of literature. The boy led him to the right, where Laxus now saw what he was so worried about.

A huge bookshelf had collapsed, hundreds of books spilling out from its crevices. Laxus could see a small head poking out from the side, buried under the rubble.

"Jonah..." It said weakly.

"Mother Adah, I've brought help, it's okay," the boy said gently. Laxus walked over to the side of the shelf, but it was truly humongous, several hundred pounds. Laxus was just surprised the woman hadn't suffocated yet. He crawled under the shelf and knelt down, raising his arms in a compromising position above him. Using his core strength, he pushed up, groaning in pain. His face contorted into one of absolute concentration as he used all of his strength to lift the shelf from the floor. Still, it was immensely heavy, and even Laxus knew he wouldn't be able to carry it the whole way himself.

"Help... her... " Laxus wheezed raggedly, hoping the boy had heard the barely audible command. Luckily he had, and now that the shelf was a few feet off the ground, he had pulled the woman out from under the rubble, leading her away. Laxus could watch the scene unfold in front of him. He saw a new pair of feet running into the room, "Jonah! What's going on?"

Only then had he realized that he had simply taken on too much weight. He began to sink downwards, the weight slowly overcoming his body. He might have died, might have just been crushed by the extraordinary bulk, but suddenly a new force held the shelf up with him. A woman probably younger than him slid under the shelf as well, painfully carrying it with him.

At first he was wholly and utterly shocked, but he quickly realized he had to help too. Together, they achingly lifted the bookshelf, until it finally hit the wall behind them with a _thud_.

Laxus collapsed in a heap of exhaustion on the wooden floors, the weight finally lifted from his shoulders. He panted heavily and looked around for who had helped him. A mere five feet away from him lay a woman in a position almost identical to his, shoulders slouched and knees sprawled as she breathed densely. Laxus realized that she had to have been tonna strong to have held up the bookshelf with him. He was silently impressed.

She suddenly looked up, almost knocking the wind out of him. She was, no doubt about it, breathtakingly beautiful. Her chocolate brown locks fell gracefully down her waist, and it didn't even look like she tried. Her chalky pale complexion was topped off by the reddest, fullest, lips Laxus had ever seen in his life. Her slender and curvy figure was adorned in a blue bikini top and brown cargo pants, numerous silver bangles hanging off her wrists and silver bands holding both of her upper arms. There was some sort of reddish mark on her shoulder, but he couldn't really make it out, still red from the heavy lifting.

She was frowning, probably because he was staring quite noticeably at her. She stood up and looked to where the small boy was still sitting on the floor with the old woman. "Jonah? Who is this guy and why's he here?" she asked coldly. Laxus was taken aback. She was kind of scary.

The boy called Jonah beamed, "This man helped Mother Adah when the book shelf fell on her. Isn't he the best?"

The still gorgeous yet impassive woman regarded Laxus again before turning back to Jonah. "So you just let a random stranger inside?" she accused. He looked away shamefully.

"Oh Cana, don't be so rude! This kind man just saved my life, we should be thanking him!" the old woman piped up. She was very old, maybe fifties or sixties, dressed in a black and white nun's gown, but she seemed to have recovered a bit from the accident. She was also… strangely familiar.

The younger woman looked back at Laxus and scrutinized him, taking in his scratched up coat and the pale scar dotting his face. Laxus sat uncomfortably, still in his obscene posture. He returned her gaze nonetheless, not backing down.

Her lips soon curled up into a smile, one of the most genuine Laxus had seen in years. She walked over to him and held her hand out. "Well, then, I guess I should be thanking you and apologizing too."

He looked at her hand and then back at her face, not moving. "Oh come on now, I don't bite, promise," she teased. He reluctantly took her hand and let her help him up. He felt a small spark go up in his arm, and quickly let go. She didn't look like she felt it, and went on to say, "Well, it's nice to meet you. I'm Cana." The name struck a familiar chord in Laxus' head, but he couldn't quite place it.

Laxus nodded his head in return. "Laxus." he grunted.

"Laxus… why does that name ring a bell?" the old woman trailed off, looking at him with new eyes.

Just then, the library doors burst open. In strode Gajeel, peeved as hell, and looking around for his partner. When he spotted him on the other side of the room, standing considerably close to Cana, his eyes widened, then narrowed. " _Food_ , Laxus?"

"Is this a friend of yours, then?" Cana inquired. Laxus just nodded.

"Hallway. Now." Gajeel growled, walking back out the door.

Laxus looked respectfully to the women and Jonah. "If you would excuse me," he said, following his friend out the door.

Gajeel was leaning against the wall, tapping his toe and looking at Laxus impatiently. "What the hell man? What're you doing inside a daycare?" he asked.

"Orphanage," he corrected.

"Whatever," Gajeel brushed aside "What are you doing here? With her?"

"This kid dragged me in here 'cause he said his teacher was hurt. That's it." Laxus said shortly, not including why he was in that area of town anyway.

"Sure, " Gajeel replied sarcastically, "Don't tell me. But what is _she_ doing here?!"

Laxus was pretty confused by now. What was Gajeel talking about? "What do you mean her? Do you know her?" he asked.

"Does he know who?"

Gajeel and Laxus jumped at the new voice. Cana had followed them out the room and was now intervening in their pretty private conversation.

"Don't you know not to eavesdrop?" Gajeel asked threateningly, still eyeing her suspiciously, much to Laxus' confusion. Cana didn't seem intimidated by him, though. If she did, she didn't show it.

"I wasn't eavesdropping. I was just going to ask you guys to stay for dinner." she replied. The men exchanged glances.

"Look lady-"

"Look lady nothing, you don't really have a choice. Laxus here just saved my Gram's life. You guys are definitely not going anywhere without us treating you to dinner, at the very least." she said matter-of-factly. The men were shocked.

"Give us a moment," Gajeel said, pulling Laxus a few feet away. Cana just crossed her arms and leaned against the door. "Take your time," she said.

"Dude," Gajeel whispered, "did you seriously not look at the pictures?"

"What pictures?"

Gajeel pulled out the small stack of information they had been going over in the lobby of Raven Tail the other day and waved them in front of Laxus' face. "These pictures."

Laxus grabbed them from Gajeel's hand, looking more closely at them. The pictures of the two girls were still there, the ones Laxus had never really done more than glance at.

Upon closer examination, Laxus realized with a horrified expression that the Cana in the picture was the Cana he had just been talking to seconds ago. He glanced at her, still leaning against the door, and then back at the photograph. He could also now realize that the red mark on her shoulders he noticed before was a guild mark; Fairy Tail's. The resemblance was uncanny. They were the same person.

"Yeah," Gajeel whispered, pissed that it had taken so long for his partner to put two and two together. "So, what do you want to do? Attack?" he asked, looking warily over at her.

"No, definitely not. We'd cause too much of a scene."

"Then what?"

"We'll… wait until tomorrow." Laxus said unsurely. "That way both girls will be at the guild. Plus they're gonna be the only ones there, according to Ivan. Until then… dinner wouldn't hurt?" Laxus finished, speaking more from his stomach than his common sense.

"Fine." Gajeel answered, equally starved. They looked back to where Cana was.

"Finished with your chat, boys?" she asked smirkingly.

"Cana! Have you invited the gentlemen for dinner yet?" Mother Adah called, popping her head out of the door as well.

"Yes, Grams," Cana said sighing, "these boys have been having tea party in the corner, though, not telling whether they're coming or not."

Laxus and Gajeel exchanged a quick glance again, and nodded slightly. "We'll stay," Laxus said to old woman. Her face was now completely recognizable to him, and he was almost saddened by the thought that she still didn't seem to remember him.

"Splendid!" the woman cried, clapping her hands. "Jonah, you come help me in the kitchen, and you, Cana, go help these nice boys to the table." Mother Adah grabbed Jonah's hand and they began scurrying back down the hallway, probably towards the kitchen.

"This way, Laxus and- I don't think I quite caught your name," Cana asked, looking to the second burly man.

"Gajeel."

"Alright Laxus, and Gajeel, follow me."

\------

Cana led them down the hallway again. Her heels clicked on the shabby wooden floors and the men lumbered cautiously behind her. They still weren't sure if being there at all was a good idea.

A few more twists and turns, and they were in the open yard again. It was pretty dark outside by now, but the few kids lingering jolted up to the sound of doors. They had all seen not one, but two intimidating looking strangers enter the Main Hall that day, and suspicion had rosen.

"Cana! Who are these guys? Are they bothering you?" a boy probably a few years younger than Laxus asked. He was scrawny and had light blue eyes and sandy brown hair. He sized Laxus and Gajeel up, trying to look fierce.

"Oh I'm sorry, are you planning to protect her?" Gajeel said snorting, his obnoxious side reaching out of him. He made a show of bending down to look at the kid.

"Well, I'll have you know-"

"Quit it, Derek! These guys aren't bothering me, and if they were, I'd be able to handle it on my own." Cana said, sighing.

The boy named Derek stopped arguing, probably because it had been Cana to speak.

"Come on, guys," Cana said, motioning with her hand for them to resume their walk. Once they were a few feet away she started talking. "That's Derek. Sorry 'bout him, he's a good kid, but I think he's got a little crush on me." she informed them. The men didn't say anything in strolled briskly to the mess hall, which was a lot smaller than the Main House. They pushed through the doors again, walking in silence through the vast cafeteria they had entered, to the back of it, and then through another set of small wooden doors.

They entered what must have been a kitchen almost appropriate in size to the already very large cafeteria, and then they walked into a smaller, more private kitchen. There was a stove, a sink, some counters (your very average kitchen), and then a small brown table to seat six, coated in a plain checkered table-cloth.

Mother Adah and Jonah were there before them, already preparing a meal.

"Well, boys, sit down, make yourselves comfy." Cana said, gesturing to the seats with her hand, then going to help Mother Adah and Jonah. Gajeel and Laxus sat down at the first two seats next to each other. They stared awkwardly at the floor. That went on for quite a while before Mother Adah finally turned from her position at the stove and placed two round dishes in front of her guests. There was steaming string beans on one side and a soup spoon on the other, and then in the middle a small bowl of vegetable broth. Cana, Jonah and Mother Adah sat down across from the table, plates identical to the men's.

Laxus hesitantly took the small spoon from its place and dipped it into the bowl. He was still doubting whether they should have stayed at all. He brought the spoon to his mouth and-

Laxus was immediately hit with a flurry of emotions.

Cold rainy days at the orphanage, sitting grumpily at the mess hall with the other children. Then a hot bowl of soup being served to him, and the first spoonful warming his insides to the point where he felt ignited.

Helping out in the kitchen as a kid, serving the other kids and secretly tasting some it for himself.

Rushing into the kitchen after being pushed into the mud by the older kids, and hoping that some hot broth would steal all his worries.

Then present day, feeling the piping hot soup slide down his throat, dousing any doubt of his being at the table, at that very moment.

The first spoonful was not enough, of course. Laxus dived for another, and once again closed his eyes, savoring the flesh-against-fire feeling lingering in his throat. The group of five ate in silence, but not an uncomfortably so one. It was clear that they were all enjoying the meal very much, excuse you, and really couldn't stop to take a breath or even create small talk.

Soon the bowl was empty, and Laxus' stomach felt whole, full, satisfied after his groggy day of travel. He slipped the last few string beans in his mouth and looked to his partner, who seemed to have finished as well.

"Ahh, Grams, your famous vegetable soup never fails to amaze me," Cana sighed, closing her eyes and leaning back in her chair contentedly.

"Yup, it's the best, Mother Adah," Jonah repeated, grinning toothily.

"Well, I glad you two enjoyed that," Mother Adah said smiling kindly. "Sir, would you be a dear and help me with the dishes?" Mother Adah looked to Gajeel.

"I, uh-"

"Come on, Gajeel, just help her with the dishes," Laxus said, smirking at his friend. The iron mage glowered at him in return and reluctantly got up from his seat at the table. He followed the old woman back to the sink while the smaller boy- Jonah- piped in eagerly and began to help the older people.

Alone at the table, Laxus realized that Cana had disappeared. He looked to where the other three were fumbling about busily at the sink, and then back into the hallway, but she was no where to be seen. On his left, he noticed a glass sliding door was open, leading outside. Curiosity getting the better of him, he cautiously got up from his seat at the table and walked out the door.

The cool air danced on his skin like needles, and the icy wind ruffled his hair. Late autumn.

He noticed her then, sitting on the wooden porch steps, legs crossed. She was looking into the horizon, a sunset now dawning. She held a beer in her hand, her painted nails gripping it to her chest.

She saw him out of the corner of her eye and jumped a little. "Oh, Laxus, didn't see you there. Just out for some fresh air." she said, turning back to her view. Laxus leaned against the wooden pillar beside her.

She held up the bottle in her hands. "I personally love a good dousing after dinner, or anytime of the day as a matter of fact," she said thoughtfully. "But Grams never lets me drink inside the orphanage walls. Like some?" she asked, offering it up to him. He accepted it from her and took a deep chug, letting the bitter-sweet drink swoon in his mouth. It was surprisingly refreshing. He handed it back.

"Thanks," he whispered.

"No problem." she whispered back, taking another swinging it up to her lips.

They stayed like that for a while, exchanging the booze in silence, watching the sky turn from blue to orange. Orange to pink.

"So," Laxus started, breaking the silence. "Mother Adah, you called her your Grams?"

Cana replied without looking at him. "Well, she's not actually my grandmother," she stated. "I've been in this orphanage since I was almost six, and since then, its been kind of a second home to me, and Grams a second mother, you know?"

Laxus nodded patiently. He did know. He remembered this place shiny and clear, and it most certainly had been a home to him all those years. He knew to any kid how rewarding this orphanage was, how special it made all of them feel. He knew exactly what she was talking about.

"And you've stayed here all these years?"

"Oh gods, no, I moved into my own house when I was sixteen or so. Couldn't bother Grams any longer." she answered.

"But..?" he questioned.

"But, of course I just couldn't let myself leave." she admitted, sighing, and looking up at him. "I grew up here, these people are my _family_ So ever since I became an adult and licensed to work I've been helping out here. God knows Grams and the other nuns need some help," she said exasperatedly.

"But at the same time, I've technically been working since I was eight, at this guild, Fairy Tail?" she explained. Laxus shifted uncomfortably. He realized just what he was doing at the moment, and how wrong it felt. "A mage's guild, I'm sure you've heard of it." she added, still looking at him. He broke her gaze and nodded slightly.

She sighed and downed the rest of the bottle.

"So are you gonna stay forever?" Laxus inquired, voicing the most obvious question.

Cana's head slouched. "I don't know." It was rasped out quietly and almost inaudible, so Laxus was only able to catch it because of his super-human dragon-slaying hearing ability.

"You don't know?" he asked, confused.

"I don't know!" she suddenly exclaimed, snapping her head up. "I just don't know! Am I supposed to stay here the rest of my life, making meals for kids and teaching subjects I haven't even learned, or am I supposed to do something with my life?"

She looked at him, straight in the eye. "Don't you ever get this feeling where you just don't know what you're fighting for, like what your purpose in life even is?" she asked him quietly. "Sometimes, I just don't know what to do. Am I supposed to go out, make a difference in the world, or stay here forever?"

Laxus considered her words. He didn't know how to respond, but he definitely knew how she felt. He felt the same way everyday. He still didn't know why he was in Raven Tail, why he killed and hurt people for living, or what he was supposed to do with his life. How was he to put that in an answer though? How was he to sum that all up, put a bow on top, and tell this woman that he knew exactly how she felt, and that she wasn't alone in this?

Instead, he just said, "I know." That sounded pretty lame. She looked at him incredulously, and was about to say something when the glass door slid open loudly, causing both of them to jump. Gajeel was standing in the doorway, arms crossed.

"We really gotta go." he stated, plain and simple. Laxus nodded and righted himself from where he had slouched against the pillar. Mother Adah and Jonah appeared in the doorway behind the dark mage, "Are you leaving already?"

"Yes, we really need to get going. It's getting late." Laxus added. Cana got up from her spot on the porch and looked at Laxus.

"Well, we'll see you around then," she stated cooly. Laxus was surprised at how quickly she had shifted from all out conversation to impassiveness once again. But he wouldn't be fooled by her uncaring mask. He saw it on himself when he looked in the mirror everyday.

He nodded and looked to Jonah and Mother Adah. "Thank you for the meal," he offered.

"Oh, it's the least we could do, you know you saving my life, and all, " Mother Adah replied happily. Her crinkled old face scrunched into a warm smile that verified for him the fact that she did not remember him. Oh, how Laxus longed to remind her who he was, and how much she had changed his life.

Instead he only nodded again, and turned around and walked past the women and boy through the door. They exited the small kitchen, and then entered the larger kitchen, and finally passed through the huge cafeteria to step out into the cold once again.

The children were all gone, much to Laxus' preference. They walked down the shabby dirt patch once again, the moon now shining brightly over their heads. Laxus shoved his hands in his pockets and pulled his head into his collar to conserve heat.

"Where we sleepin'?" Gajeel asked in a low voice. He was in a similar position to Laxus, head down and hands sheltered.

Laxus shrugged. "I dunno." His voice was muffled through the fabric. They continued their brisk pace through the fields and finally into the urban city once again. Laxus didn't dare look back. He didn't know what he would see, and didn't want to know. He was embarrassed enough. Those people had just took him in like family, had even treated them to dinner- and he was supposed to kidnap Cana later? It was so, so wrong. He just didn't want to think about it.

As a Raven Tail mage, he learned never to spare mercy, never to grow feelings towards the enemy. And he really didn't. He was ruthless when it came to battle, and he didn't give it a second thought before striking down an opponent. Somehow, though, Cana felt different. She had opened up to him, trusted him with something personal.

How was he to deal with all this? His mind was congested with worry, guilt and mixed feelings. His head throbbed from the exhausting day. It was all so complicated.

They reached the town square and spotted two vacant benches by the side. The waning moon hung dreamily over the midnight blue sky, stars scattered amongst its numerous folds. The evergreen trees swayed in the gentle breeze, craning their necks to dance in unison. Shopkeepers around them began switching off lights, packing up inventory. One by one booths and windows darkened, until finally the square was lit only by the dim, crappy streetlights. Laxus sighed and walked over to the nearest bench.

"We're camping out, I guess?" Laxus asked, looking to Gajeel.

Gajeel huffed and looked disappointingly at the bench. "Yeah, I guess. I didn't bring enough to pay for an inn," he admitted. He walked over and rested his back on the seat and let his feet dangle over the edge of the arm rest.

"G'night then." Laxus said, lying down on the other bench.

"G'night."

Laxus stared blankly in front of him. He couldn't sleep. He definitely couldn't close his eyes. There was too much clouding his mind.

It was all very new to Laxus, the whole, caring, thing? He had never felt guilty, had never needed to give his orders a second thought.

The stars twinkled infinitely over him, and Gajeel's loud snores filled the silence. Laxus stayed there for hours, back rigid against the hard wooden bench. He thought back to the small spark he had noticed before when touching Cana. It was all very cliche, and Laxus just didn't know how to deal with it.

_The sky was so blue that night._

All he knew is that he had to get over it before tomorrow; that was when he had to take down Cana Alberona.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please read and review! next chapter up as soon as i find time to revise it.


	3. Let's Negotiate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> flare gives her insight on her affairs in the war and levy asks a favor of wendy

**Ivan Dreyer**

Women.

That’s how most of Ivan’s hours seemed to pass nowadays.

Oh yes, there he is, the notorious Ivan Dreyer; the horrible, the VICIOUS. Let us shun him, ignore his existence. Afterall, he is the Dreyer gone wrong, and the last of the line, surely, for who would care to marry such a disagreeable man as him? 

Well _that_ line always pisses him off.

He’d like to scream in their faces, and wouldn’t feel ashamed to scream spittedly, at that, too. He in fact _did_ have a wife, a fucking gorgeous one, that too. Yes, he had shot her just a few years after they had been married, but hey, she had been a fucking whore! He deserved much better than her. His numerous sluts proved enough.

So yes, he slept with women left and right, but who was he to be ashamed? What else was there to do in life? Oh yes, there’s the matter of killing his father, that old fool Mockorav, and destroying Magnolia as well. That was on the top of his to do list, mind you. You might ask, why? what made him aggravate you? Well the question might as well be why NOT? He most certainly _could_ and that was motivation enough. That and the fact that man had kicked him out of Fairy Tail, and even got him arrested-- the nerve! He was the rightful heir to the guild master’s throne, so who was this bastard old man to deprive him of it? 

All Ivan wanted was power-- which was probably what led him to beginning Raven Tail, a guild whose sole reason of creation was to rival those filthy fairies. Although they were technically a legal guild, they never accepted many requests, and when they did, they were high pay and usually resulted with the guild mages terrorizing the clients afterwards. Like I said, a legal guild.

So yes-- it just MIGHT put off his mind a little when he learned that one of his best agents had fucked up one of the most IMPORTANT jobs that had been redistributed in a long time.

“It was a fucking book for fucks sake! What possibly got into that iron mage’s thick skull, so as to make him lose a _fucking book_!”

Ivan paced his room, shouting at the feminine form cowering by the wall. It had been half an hour since Gajeel entered the office and got beat up, and the guild master’s rage hadn’t subsided. He paced harder till he was basically running back and forth, while Flare, his private slut and mage who had reentered the room, sat and hoped not to be too much on the receiving end of the brute’s rage.

“But surely… Master... if it was just a book…”

He turned and shot her a sharp glare that sent her further into the corner of the office. “Just a book? _Just_ a book?” he said venomously, spit flying his mouth. “It might be just a book to your pathetic little mind, but that book, that top-secret finding just might have been the key to us finally finishing Makarov and his little fairies once and for all! But noo, that idiot just _had_ to lose it!”

Ivan Dreyer’s eyes gleamed hard. “And that too, the nerve of that Gajeel to come striding in like he did nothing wrong. Who does he think he is?” he turned to Flare as if expecting an answer.

“We--”

“He’s my bitch, that’s what he is!” the man cut her off. “He doesn't have any right to disobey me, he is under _my command_. _I_ am the one keeping him alive.”

It was silent for a moment, until Ivan turned his eyes back to Flare. She was shocked by the heart-chilling menace that lay behind them. “That boys gonna pay, once he gets back from that mission…”

\------

**Flare**

Flare tried her best to keep a straight face. She knew if he saw the anger building up inside her, she’d be punished. But how could she _not_ be angry? Although she was a mage from Raven Tail...well, let’s just say her loyalties had been shifted.

One month ago, Mockarav Dreyer had caught up with her on one of her field missions, to defeat some street thugs. No, hear me out when I say it, she’s a decent person. She actually got the job done and accepted the money. Fair play. However… that’s when the girl appeared.

She was clearly a stereotypically irritable blonde who thought she was better than everyone else. She came striding in the alley with shiny keys jangling from her overly short mini skirt and an expensive whip in her carefully manicured hand. It was late at night, the last few street shops closing up, and this woman was obviously intoxicated. She walked with an uneven swing in her step. She was accompanied by a handsome skinny stranger with orange hair and blue glasses.

“Miss Heartfilia, I’m only trying to tell you that perhaps this might not be a good idea. You found the flyer on the ground… the job was obviously old, we’re just wasting time, and its late at night, I should be escorting you back to your apartment.” the man sighed, pushing up at his rectangular glasses. He seemed as though he was perfectly sober, unlike his partner.

“So what? At most we’ll just be backup--”

The blonde girl froze mid sentence and seemed to finally notice Flare, in the middle of the clearing, with unconscious bodies of the defeated thugs scattered around her. She must’ve taken Flare for the enemy, for her free hand instantly went to the keys on her hip and her eyes narrowed.

“Who are you?” she sneered, and Flare immediately took a disliking to her. [italics] She ought to be the one identifying herself! Afterall, she was the one who had just wandered in on Flares job!

“Who are _you_? And the hell are you doing in the middle of [italics] my job, sweetheart?” Flare calmly, hiding her annoyance. The princess obviously had never been spoken to out of the context of delicate respect, for her eyes widened and the grip on her whip keys jingled. The handsome stranger accompanying her didn't seem as offended, but simply blinked and-- was that a smile he was hiding?

“ _Your_ j--” the woman paused in the middle of her sentence and blinked twice. “Oh. You accepted this job?”

“Congrats on the discovery, princess.”

Flare narrowly dodged a flash of black leather that flew past her shoulder. “Hey, what the f--”

“I don’t want to be talked to that way! You’re a Raven Tail mage aren’t you?” the blonde women cried furiously, her alcoholic state repining her. She pointed at the black guild emblem on the redhead’s chest.

“Miss Heartfilia, perhaps you and I should just leave--”

“No! I want her to apologize to me first!” the drunk blonde insisted juvenilely.

Flare raised her eyebrows. She might be a decent person-- trust me, _much_ more of a decent person that the ones you’ll find at Raven Tail-- but true to heart she knew how to be evil, and this woman’s insolence towards her was starting to annoy her. She tilted her head. She brought a corner of her lip up slightly, oh just so slightly, as to per intimidation. Her cardinal eyes gleamed. Her cloak of flaming hair fell over one skin bare shoulder.

“I don’t like your attitude.” The wave of red that engulfed her floated slowly, as if in a trance, about her bare shoulders. A few flaring tendrils shot around her.

“Miss Heartfilia, if you would please, we must be going,” the orange haired man said delicately once more to his angry partner. He turned to the calm (yet preparedly deadly) scarlet mage. “I’m sorry to intrude, my partner here is not in her right state of mind. We’ll be leaving just now.” 

“What a shame. I would have loved to see the little princess break a nail.”

Had she been an ordinary mage, the strike would have hit Flare straight across the face. Flare, however, was no ordinary mage. She had jumped aside the second the blonde brought out her whip. She could see the shock in the blonde’s face when she missed. Before she had the chance to open her mouth, she was lifted up into the air in a coil of scarlet locks and thrown across the pavement. The attacker smirked. Flare had dealt with much worse-- more than a little combat guild mage would’ve been able to handle.

“Lucy!”

“I think I’ll be going now,” Flare purred, still gazing at the the blonde, now being helped up by her handsome friend. “but don’t get me wrong, this was a treat.” And with that, she turned in a whirlwind of red and exited the alley. 

\------

The minute Flare left, she knew she was in for trouble. The two she had attacked were already registered in her mind-- Lucy Heartfilia and the mysterious Loki, mages of the mighty Fairy Tail. No one was really able to go through life without recognizing those celebrities. She guessed toying with them hadn’t been such a smart idea either, but hey, the girl was pissing her off and thats usually how Raven Tail mages dealt with such people.

She suspected that the girl would gossip about her with her friends or something-- something that wouldn’t really involve them meeting again. What she _hadn’t_ suspected, however, was the guild master of Fairy Tail to come knocking on her door.

He was tiny, to be honest, and she wondered why he was considered such a threat. He was wrinkled up like a peach that had been left in the sun far too long. He had a white mustache and head of hair, and a nose worth bragging about. She decided to do whatever she could to avoid the subject of her run in with his Lucy.

“I’m sorry, do I know--”

“Yes, I think you do.” He cut her off, looking up at her with squinted eyes. “My name is Makarov, guild master of Fairy Tail.”

“Doesn’t ring a bell,” Flare lied.

He saw right through this and continued, “I understand you’re Flare Corona, one of Raven Tail’s spies.” It was more of a statement than a question. Although Flare knew he was a pretty powerful man, she wondered how he knew her name. She tried to act as if it hadn’t swayed her, but something must’ve shown on her face, for he sighed and said, “Good, now neither of us feels the need to lie. I’m here on behalf of one of my mages, Lucy Heartfilia.”

She snorted. “I see the lass has sent her big old boss to spook me or something. Won’t work.”

The old man shook his head. “No, actually I came to apologize for her actions last night.” Seeing the surprised expression on Flare’s face, he continued. “Loki, another one of my mages, told me what happened.”

The shock wore off quickly. “Yeah right. If the princess actually cared about what happened, she would've come herself.” she sneered, starting to close the door on the man’s face.

“Ms. Corona, if you will not accept my apology, then you should know that it was not the only reason I came here today.” She paused and kept the door halfway open. “I am here to offer you a deal.” He continued.

“A deal?”

“Call it a business opportunity, if you will.”

She paused. A deal? What kind of deal was the master of her rival guild supposed to make with her? She was shocked that he was _here_ in the first place. It had to be a trick. There was no other explanation.

“And why should I listen to you?” She inquired, staring him in the eye.

“Because you can?”

She mulled that over in her head for minute. 

“There’s no harm in listening to what I have come to say, Ms. Corona.” he reminded her, his voice even.

Flare looked at him again, chewing her tongue in thought. He looked sincere, but she had met plenty of “sincere” people before. She held the door open and stepped aside. “You have ten minutes.”

\-----

 **Levy**

“That’ll be four hundred jewels.”

Levy rummaged in her purse for her money. “Four hundred jewels,” she said smiling, handing the cashier the money and taking the two hot cocoas in return. “Thank you!”

Drinks in hand, she walked over to a booth near the back of the cafe and sat herself down. She had scheduled for Wendy to meet her at 2:30, which was over ten minutes ago. Of course, in normal circumstances, they wouldn’t even have had to “schedule” a meeting time. They would have both been at the guild all day.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t normal circumstances. After the attack on the guild, the master had insisted that no one was to go inside the building except for their watch shifts there (excluding the time when Jet and Droy and she had gone there to help clean up), and even then, never to go alone. Levy had just finished her shift there with Cana and had come to the cafe.

Sighing, Levy checked her watch. _2:52_. More than being irritated about her friend being late, she was worried for her safety. Part of the master’s rule about going into the Fairy Tail building was to ensure that no one got hurt, incase Raven Tail was planning on attack again. Levy was already sorry that she had made Wendy leave her house at all-- but it was important. What she was about to ask of Wendy would be worth the risk. If she said yes to Levy’s favor… Levy was just excited thinking about the possibilities.

Levy looked up as the cafe’s door chimed.

“Levy!” Wendy rushed over to the booth where her friend was sitting, her cheeks flushed. “I’m so sorry I’m late! Pantherlily had shown up at my apartment with his new kiwi juice and just _insisted_ that I--”

“It’s _okay_ , Wendy.” Levy interrupted, giggling. “I’m just glad you’re alright. Wendy smiled gratefully at Levy. “Here, it might be cold by now.” Levy said, handing the smaller girl her drink.

“Ahh, hot chocolate, my favorite!” Wendy exclaimed, taking the drink. She took a sensitive sip and sighed contentedly. “So,” she started, “What was it you wanted to talk about?” Levy brought the item of importance out from her bag. Wendy frowned over the rim of her glass at the book. “What’s that?”

“I found it in one of the guild’s rooms, before the attack.” she explained, sliding the book across the table for her friend to examine.

“‘Fairy Tail Property’?” Wendy asked, her eyes widening. “Levy what’re you doing with this? And who’s… Jolie Romane?”

“Like I said, I found it in the guild,” Levy repeated.

Wendy put down her cup and flipped open the book. She looked up at Levy. “It’s blank.”

“I know,” Levy explained. “I thought you could help me with that.” Wendy gestured for her to go on. “See I’ve been trying to use my Gale-Force reading glasses to bring out the text, but nothing’s happened so far. I even used my most powerful lenses, the 64x ones, which I barely ever use. And yet-- nothing. Not even a drop of ink.”

Wendy nodded. “But how do you know there was anything written in it in the first place?” she asked. “Maybe it was a birthday present or something, one that she never used.”

“Maybe it was, but my gut is telling me that it’s more than that.” Levy insisted, her eyes pleading. “I can feel it-- there’s some kind of magic in this book. Something, or someone, cast a spell to hide whatever’s in here. You have to trust me when I say, I think this could be really important.”

Wendy bit her lip for a minute, thinking it over. “I _do_ trust you. And if you say this is important, then it must be.” she said, smiling warmly. “But why tell me? _You’re_ the script-mage here-- I don’t think I’d be of much help.”

“I think you would. See, I’ve only used up to the 64x lense on my glasses, the most powerful one I own. But I was talking to Lucy the other day and she said she’d heard about a new lense, a 120x one.” Levy said excitedly. “It’s only found in Lana, the town east of us. A day’s journey at most. But the thing is, I was doing some research on it the other day and apparently it can only be utilized with the infusion of wind magic.” Levy waited to hear the younger girl’s response.

“So… you want me to travel with you to Lana, and try and get the new glasses?”

“... Yes.”

“Sure!”

Levy blinked in surprise. “Really? You’d do that for me?”

Wendy grinned and rolled her eyes. “Of course, Levy. It’s only day out of my _packed_ schedule.” she joked.

“I can’t thank you enough, Wendy, really, this is just-- thank you.” Levy babbled appreciatively. The two bluenettes grinned at each other. This was going to be a _very_ pleasant trip...


	4. Everyone's a Nerd

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> laxus is forced to confront his doubts by finding cana and mackorav reflects on where his family went wrong

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> new chapter! sorry its been so long, but im deifnitly trying to keep up. enjoy and please review!

**Laxus**

It had been anything _but_ a pleasant trip. Laxus, honestly, wasn't one for road trips, and this might've been the crappiest excuse of one so far. At the moment, his only wish was for the mission to be _over_ already.

"Alright. This is going to go down in two minutes, max. We go in, sneak up on them, and put the handcuffs on. Then we leave, _directly_ after. Got it?" Laxus said sternly. His partner grunted in understanding. "Good. Let's go."

The two dragon slayers walked cautiously around the huge building, not even wincing as they were reminded of the huge destruction done to carefully avoided the fallen rubble that still lay scattered around its exterior, ducking several times to avoid the huge metal rods sticking out of the building. After a few minutes of walking, because, _man_ that place was huge, the men reached the back door of the guild building and tried the handle once before deciding it was locked. Laxus watched as his partner shaped his metal arm into a small key, perfect for the door. He slowly pushed it into the door's small key hole and sighed as it made a small _click_ , proceeding to turn it and swing the door open. Laxus wasn't sure, but he might've thought he was feeling a little _disappointed_ , as if he was counting on anything that would delay what was coming up.

He followed Gajeel inside the building and noted that even the _back_ of the building was somehow luxurious. It had potted petunias and some spare chairs stacked neatly. Laxus rolled his eyes in annoyance. Show offy bastards. He remembered that Ivan had said that the two girls would be alone, in the guild's "main hall", whatever the hell that was. He wondered how his father got such specific information, anway.

They walked through a series of brightly lit hallways before the dark haired mage paused in his steps. "Shh, I can hear something."

Laxus froze as he realized what Gajeel had heard. It was two feminine voices, one of them which he recognized too well.

Cana.

Shit, shit. Laxus groaned internally as new waves of doubt blinded him. Could he really do this? He could just _imagine_ the look of disgust she would give him. How in the hell was he supposed to react to that?

"Yo, you coming or not?" Gajeel whispered impatiently, snapping Laxus out of his thoughts.

"Ladies first."

Gajeel cautiously pushed another door open and allowed Laxus to follow him into the large room before them. Laxus' eyes widened to the size of golfballs as he took in the site before him. A silent _woah_ involuntarily escaped his lips. The "Main Hall" was _grand_ , there was no other way to describe it. Polished stone floors stretched at least sixty meters. The place was filled with wooden tables and chairs, ornate decorations and painted windows. The beige painted walls seemed to rise for miles, joining at a perfect, windowed dome that poured fresh sunlight into the hall. To his right was a food court and to his left was a set of picnic tables, but it was what was in front of Laxus that captured his sole attention.

She lay, motionless, at a mahogany bar in the middle of the room. For a second Laxus thought she might be unconscious but then a large, unrefined snore arose and he realized she was just sleeping.

He looked at Gajeel once and silently asked him if he remembered the plan. The iron mage nodded and took a step towards the girl. The _moment_ his foot touched the ground, though, Cana snapped up from her sleep and swiveled her head in their direction. Laxus would've silently whistled at her superhuman reflexes if she hadn't almost made him shit his pants.

She blinked confusedly at the two men, recognizing them from the day before. "Laxus?... Gajeel?" She looked at both of the men's faces. "What're you doing here?"

Laxus stayed frozen in place, not sure what to do, what to say. He awkwardly coughed and let Gajeel take the spotlight. "Sorry princess, but we're not here to taste more of your grammy's stew."

He molded his arm into a long metal rod, stretching it across the room with the intention of knocking Cana out in one, swift move-- however the second she saw the attack she quickly scrambled to dodge it, jumping back to stand on the bar's surface.

"What the hell is going on?" she demanded, her eyes widening in confusion. She gasped as Gajeel lifted up his sleeve to reveal his black guild insignia, Laxus pushing down his shirt collar to do the same. "You... you guys are actually here from Raven Tail? Haven't you done enough?" she yelled again, gesturing around her to the wreckage that was once a guild.

"We're gonna need you to come back with us." Laxus said roughly, meeting her eyes for the first time that day. He struggled to stay expressionless when he saw the rage in them.

"Wow, are you Raven Tail dudes _that_ thick?" she called, half snorting. "You really think I'm just gonna come _with_ you? After everything you dickheads have done? Whatever you want, you can find somewhere else."

Laxus sighed. He wished she would just come. It would make everything so much easier. He turned to his partner. "Use force?"

"Use force."

Gajeel sent another metal arm to smash through the bar their target was sitting on. She tumbled roughly forward, sliding on her forearms to protect her face. She looked up, seeing the men advancing on her, and pulled a card from her ruffled bag, throwing it in front of her "Shield!" A shining wall of light stretched out from the card, blowing the men backwards and allowing Cana to pick herself up. "Heaven! Wind!" She stacked two blue cards together and sent them flying towards Laxus and Gajeel. "Activate, Wind's Edge!"

Laxus could only think _crap_ , before the towering blasts of wind sliced through his skin and sent him lodged into the nearest wall. He groaned, blinking blood out of his eyes. He raised a hand to touch the gashes imprinted on his face, the crimson sending a jolt of anger through him-- literally. 

His body crackled with electricity as he dislodged himself from the cement walls. He narrowed his eyes at the skinny figure who'd just managed to actually hurt him. "You _really_ , shouldn't have done that _Cana_." He growled, using her name to make her wince. He sucked his chest in, the light around him growing. "Lightning Dragon's Roar!" He exhaled deeply, sending a pulse of lightning towards the girl. Her eyes widened in shock as the attack hit her in the stomach, the power spreading through her body in seconds. She screamed, clutching her stomach and falling to her knees.

He looked over to Gajeel, who seemed to be sitting back, enjoying the scene play out when his eyebrows narrowed. "Laxus."

"What?" he asked breathily, still panting from the battle.

"Weren't there supposed to be two girls? Where’s the McGarden chick?" Gajeel grunted, eyeing him. Laxus felt his stomach drop a little as he realized what his partner was saying, although he'd failed to notice it before.

He rounded on an injured Cana. "Well? Where is she?"

"You w-want _Levy_? Why? What h-has she go to do-" she broke down in a fit of violent coughing, hugging her abdomen.

"What we do is none of your business, lady. Just tell us where she's hiding." Gajeel grunted, walking up to Cana.

She spit out some blood and wiped her lips. Her onyx eyes swam with determination. "Never! You think I'd really-" she stopped, her breath cut off as Gajeels brusque hands wrapped around her throat. She gasped as she was lifted into the air, her feet swinging to reach anything solid.

"Talk!"

She scratched uselessly at the brute's hands, her legs kicking against him. Her color was draining by the second, but her lips nonetheless remained sealed. "I said talk!"

"Put her down, it's no use." Laxus called boredly to his partner, hiding his slight concern for her. The iron mage gave him a long look before releasing his hands, letting the Cana fall to ground. She collapsed on her knees, rubbing her throat. She glared at the men above her. Laxus bent down and got the handcuffs from inside his coat. She laughed bitterly as he snapped them onto her small wrists.

"You really think this will hold me? Summon- Heat!" she yelled confidently. An awkward second passed. Maybe two. She narrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Heat Card!" she repeated, louder. Laxus watched as the realization sunk in. Her mouth widened in shock. She jingled the metal cuffs. "No way! Magic-cancelling handcuffs? You have _got_ to be kidding!"

Laxus locked the cuffs into place. She looked at him incredulously. "How could you do this? Did you come to the orphanage for me too? Why didn't you just _kill_ m-"

"Dear Lord, woman, shut yer trap," Gajeel said exasperatedly, rubbing his temples. "We need to talk," he added, looking at his partner. The blonde shrugged indifferently and walked to the edge of the room.

"What're we going to do about this Levy chick?" Gajeel raised.

Laxus glanced over at where Cana was still sitting on the floor. "I doubt this one's gonna let up anytime soon."

"So what, you just want to go back with one? Master's not gonna like that. He doesn't like incomplete jobs." Gajeel said, his eyes turning ominously dark.

"It doesn't look like we really have a choice."

"True… I bet she won't be as resilient after the Master gets to her."

Laxus winced. He didn't want to imagine what Ivan would do to Cana. That man _always_ got what he wanted, no matter the method. "So.. we'll head back then?" he concluded, looking at his partner. Gajeel nodded.

"The teleport location Gildarts and I set up last time we were here is just behind the building. Let's go."

\------

**Makarov**

 

Papers.

Stacks of them.

Makarov sat at his desk, his eyes closed. One of the most powerful mages in the world, defeater of the most notorious villains, master of perhaps the strongest spy guild in Fiore-- Makarov Dreyar, in all his greatness, was doing paper work.

He was staying at a nearby hotel, seeing as how the guild had been his only home, and wasn't fit for sleeping in anymore. He disliked the fact his mages were taking shifts there at all-- but agreed to allow it when they argued that someone would need to be there at all times, in case Raven Tail decided to return.

The old man pressed his stubby fingers against the wrinkled skin of his forehead for the hundredth time that day. For a man of his small height, he held on to more stress than you could imagine. He was currently dealing with the complaints from Fiore's local police department-- they were angry about the attack on the Fairy Tail building, claiming that the event had "scared the pedestrians". Makarov had given a bitter laugh when he read that. What, did they assume he had _asked_ for the destruction of his home? They should be dealing with Raven Tail, not them. Honestly, these people knew nothing. They got pissed off when Fairy Tail causes trouble and ignored the guild when its members go about saving the town.

The police should've been the last thing on Makarov's mind right now. He still couldn't forgive himself for what had happened. If the entire guild hadn't taken the day off, if any of them had actually gotten _hurt_ \- he just wouldn't have been able to live with himself. It was _his_ fault this all happened. SOMETHING had happened along the line, SOMETHING Makarov had done must've turned his son, his only son, heartless.

Makarov pushed his wooden chair from the table, wood screeching against wood. He walked over to the black suitcase holding his possessions, opening it to retrieve a worn-out photoframe, wrapped in age-sealing black cloth. He unveiled it.

It was a photo of Makarov, so, so many years ago, and his young Ivan standing directly next to him. He'd been only thirteen at the time; four years before he had been banished from the guild.

Makarov shook his head just thinking of the incident. He had been so young. And yet so foolish.

Makarov always remembered it as having started out as a regular day. He'd been sitting in the guild, on his usual perch on the bar. He'd just sent Gildarts out on his first date with Cornelia, and was still in a good mood about it. He just _knew_ those two would hit it off. It'd been so close to being a normal day. Before Lea had entered.

Her hair was in a mess, her eyes swollen from crying, obviously. She looked like she had just been mugged. And then Ivan had entered, still young and handsome at seventeen. He looked around for a moment before locking his gaze on Lea. Smirking, he set off in her direction.

The minute he saw Lea's eyes widen in fear, Makarov knew something was wrong. Lea was a new recruit, only having joined a few months ago. But she had never looked as afraid as she was at that moment. She'd always have her head up, confident and sassy, always surrounded by her teammates. Right now, though, she looked terrified.

She quickly got up from her table and headed out the front door of the guild. Ivan frowned and followed her out. The scene went unnoticed by the rest of the guild, but Makarov was observant enough to know that he had to be to one to make sure everything was alright. He got down from his seat and started to the exit of the guild.

"Lea! Hey, what the fuck?"

Makarov paused at the door. He lingered inside, trying to hear what was going on.

"What the fuck? You really have the nerve to say that to me right now?" he heard Lea whisper shakily.

"What? I thought last night was pretty damn-"

"Don't you _dare_ , Ivan Dreyar. Don't you even pretend for a moment what you did was okay."

A snort. "And what exactly was so-"

"You _raped_ me, you bastard!" A broken sob. "You took advantage of me, and you know it."

"You never said to st-"

"That's because I was drunk, asshole. You _knew_ I wasn't thinking straight. Don't think for a moment that what you did was okay, in any perspective."

Silence.

"I never want you to touch me, ever go _near_ me ag- AH!"

Some scuffling sounded, and then a muffled cry. "Don't you talk to me that way, Lea. I thought we were making _love_ , you bitch!" a sound resounded in the silence of the afternoon, loud and sharp.

"Ivan!"

The seventeen year old whirled around to the direction of the voice. Makarov stepped out of the guild, shaking in anger. He looked at his son, still gripping poor Lea violently, and shook his head. "Stop this Ivan. Let her go."

Ivan did exactly that, roughly pushing Lea away from his as if her touch suddenly disgusted him. She stumbled, catching herself against the brick walls of the guild. "Lea, are you alright?" Makarov asked gently, looking at her. She nodded silently, looking between the father and son before walking back inside the guild.

Ivan snorted. "What, is Daddy going to scold me now? Save it pops," he said boredly.

"Stop it Ivan. Please."

"Stop what? The bitch had it coming!"

"This isn't you, Ivan!" Makarov yelled, startling his son. He could hear the guild go quiet behind him. He barely noticed, fists clenched tightly. "The way you've been acting these past few years? It's not you."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, _father_." Ivan spat bitterly. "But I don't recall doing anything particularly horrible."

At this, Makarov's tone lowered. "Abusing the locals? Getting in fights with dark guilds? Getting thrown into jail every other week, stealing from the guild, and now - harassing your own guildmates? They are your nakama, Ivan!"

"Oh don't give me that nakama bullshit, old man." Ivan snarled, bringing his face close to his father's. "You and I both know that those fatasses couldn't care less about me. If I died today, they'd probably be relieved."

"Don't say things like that, Ivan." Makarov warned quietly.

"What? You know it's true! Well, let them know the feeling's mutual. Those weak-ass excuses for mages don't belong in a guild like Fairy Tail. Fairy Tail will never be truly strong with fools like those around. Might as well get rid of them while you still ca-"

"Stop. Stop this Ivan, I don't want to have to do this."

"Do what, exactly?"

Makarov looked up at his son, his blue eyes turned stone. "You have given me no choice. Ivan Dreyar, you are hereby banished from Fairy Tail."

\-------

 

**Levy**

"Favorite color?"

"Orange."

"Favorite author?"

"Jane Austen, of course."

"Dream vacation?"

"The south gla-"

"For the _love of Mavis_ , Wendy, I think you know enough about her." A small white cat huffed irritably, crossing her stubby limbs. " The two of you just stop talking and let me rest."

A young girl with blue ponytails rolled her eyes. "Carla, you've been sleeping the entire ride. We all have. It's boring." she pointed out. She turned back to the small woman sitting cross legged next to her on the bumpy wagon. "Celebrity crush?"

It was a pleasant, autumnal morning as the three companions traveled side by side in a wooden wagon steered only by two horses and a small man. As unluxurious as the mode of transportation was, it was a relief nonetheless. The air was fresher, the rolling hills around them somehow greener. Something about the place, it just _shouted_ relaxation. Forget mission-- this was a vacation.

Levy McGarden breathed in the brisk air and sighed in serenity. Her fluttering eyelids opened slowly, hazel irises taking in the view. She ran her fingers up her electric blue locks, slipping off her orange spotted headband and placing it next to her on the wooden floor of the cart. She smiled kindly to her partner. "C'mon Wendy, I'll tell you all about it later, promise. Let's let Carla sleep for now."

Wendy just proceeded to give a little wave of the hand, replying with "Don't take her seriously, Levy-chan. She's been sleeping _all_ the time nowadays."

Levy gave a small laugh as she saw Carla shoot a glare at the small bluenette. "Alright then, you want to see something cool?" she asked. Wendy's eyes brightened immediately, head nodding enthusiastically. Levy laughed again, reaching into her brown satchel for a stack of papers. She placed the papers in front of Wendy, scooting so that the two were directly across from each other, the papers between them. "So I did a little more research on the glasses before we left, you know, so that we'd be prepared for when we find them? Anyway, it turns out only about fifty of them have actually been manufactured and stored in Fiore right now. When we get to Lana, only a few will actually be available." She gestured to the papers in front of them, joining two at the end to make a map visible. In the region that was labeled _Fiore_ , several towns were marked with red x's, probably to show where the product was available. Several other regions were drawn on the map, but Fiore seem to have the most, the other regions having very few marks and far in between.

Wendy furrowed her eyebrows, pulling the sheets closer to her. "Wait if there are only fifty in this region, and a small number actually in this town we're going to-- why haven't they sold out? They're supposed to be pretty popular among you script-mages, right?"

"I know, that's what I'm trying to tell you," Levy explained. "Apparently, the glasses are totally free, _but_ , to actually receive a pair, you have to be tested or something."

"Tested? What do you mean?"

"Their slogan in the advertisements is _Only the best of the best will pass this test_! I read up on it," she gestured to another group of papers underneath the map, "And people say that the 'test' varies depending on the person or whatever. They said it changes every time, and that only a few people have actually came back with the glasses, even though hundreds have tried."

Wend took a minute to let that sink in. A _test? _Hundreds_ failed? Just how precious _were_ these glasses anyway?_

"I know," Levy said, as if reading the little girl's mind. "I don't get what makes this new addition so much more special. I mean, the ones I've bought in the past have been pretty expensive, but.. oh well. It might be a bit of a challenge, but it sounds fun, right?"

A snort sounded from the corner of the wagon. Levy and Wendy jumped, startled. They'd taken the exceed's silence for sleep. "W-what?" Levy asked cautiously.

Carla didn't bother to open an eye as she spoke. "Sounds fun? Really? You realize that you _just_ said that a handful of people tried and couldn't beat this stupid exam? No offense, Levy, but you're not the most powerful mage in Fiore." she paused for a moment, her voice softening. "If you want those glasses that bad, you've gotta keep that in mind. It's gonna be harder than what you're used to."

Levy looked down, embarrassed. She knew Carla was right. She was getting ahead of herself. She wasn't the greatest script-mage in Fiore. She wasn't the strongest. If hundreds had tried and failed… she shook her head just thinking about it. This was going to be a _very_ stressful purchase.

Don't worry, Levy-chan," Wendy said warmly, putting her hand on the woman's shoulder. "I believe that you can do this. Plus… I want to learn about this Jolie Romane person as much as you do, so I'll be of whatever help I can!" she concluded, grinning.

Levy returned the grin. She was glad she had brought Wendy with her. She would've given up already if it hadn't been for the little sky-mage's ever burning optimism.

Suddenly the wagon lurched to a stop, sending the girls tumbling to the floor of the wagon. Levy rubbed her head where it had hit the wood and blinked.

Destination! Welcome to Lana, ladies

\-------- **Freed**

When a man finds himself in a hallway, his first instinct is to walk. However, when a man is placed in front of a door, a variety of options are presented to him. Said man could _knock_ on the door, or _kick_ the door, or even walk away from the door.

When this man happens to be Freed Justine, though, he will usually stand in front of the door for an hour or above, his eyes never blinking as he faces the wood.

"Freed? What are you doing?"

Freed barely moved. "Hi Ever. Laxus asked me to wait for him here when he got back. He should be here any minute."

"Oh, my god, Freed. Seriously. How long have you been in front of his door?"

"Only thirty-nine minutes. He's thirty-nine minutes late, by the way."

The busty woman facing him put her hands to her face in exasperation. "Freed. Laxus is going to come back eventually, you don't need to stand in front of his door like that. It's… creepy."

The green-haired man didn't make to move. Evergreen sighed. "Fine. But you should know, Bickslow's looking for you. He said something about you stealing one of his dolls."

At this, Freed turned sharply, startling the woman. "I did _not_ steal his stupid dolls! One followed me into the shower today! Do you know how hard it is to wash _this_ ," he gestured violently to his long expanse of green hair, "With those annoying things chirping in your ear every two seconds?"

Ever bit back a laugh, raising her hands in surrender. "Hey, I'm just delivering the message."

Freed sighed,clearly distressed with the situation. "I just- I'm worried, okay?" he admitted, staring at Evergreen with his same expressionless face. "Laxus should've been back a long time ago, and I know he's never been too good on trains and-" the man sighed, now, shaking his head and pressing his fingers to his temples. "No, what am I saying? Laxus is the strongest of all of us. Plus he's got that meathead of a mage with him. There's no way he could be in trouble." Evergreen opened her mouth to speak, but he promptly cut her off. "But what if the train crashed? How would his magic stop that?" He was pacing now, his long coat swishing around his ankles. "What if-"

"Freed! Shut up for a minute, will you? Can you hear yourself?"

Freed stopped pacing and looked up. His expression was unreadable, stoic, as always, but he nodded. "You're right. I am overreacting."

Ever looked up at him again, eyebrow arching. She folded her arms across her chest. "Well I'm not leaving you to stare at his door again. Come on, let's go out or something."

Freed's eyes widened for a fraction of second before returning to their regular size. "No, I have to wait until Laxus gets back."

Ever groaned. "Freed, seriously. You've been in here way too long. I'll get Bickslow and we can go check out that mission you were talking about. The nerd one, with the glasses?"

Freed hesitated before narrowing his eyes at her. "It's not nerdy. They happen to be the newest Gale-Force model, and I _intend_ to own a pair."

Ever waved her hands dismissively. "Whatever, let's just go. But we're picking up lunch first."

\--------

**Cana**

When she woke up, Cana was sure of only two things.

First, she was in a small, damp place that smelled like shit.

Second, her stomach was on fire.

She tried to sit up quickly, but the pain immediately started and sent her straight back down. 

She peered over chest to examine the damage. The skin starting under her bikini top down to her navel was an ugly red color. She winced at the peeling skin, knowing that a bruise like that wasn't going to heal gracefully.

More carefully this time, Cana pulled herself into a sitting position, her back leaning against something hard. Her stomach was aching like _crazy_ , and she felt an apparent stinging in each muscle as she moved, slowly. She felt like her insides were having a war inside her, and she could only squeeze her eyes shut and exhale softly through her mouth.

After a few minutes of clutching her stomach, she opened her eyes. She was in a small, dingy room. The walls were a brute cement, the floor likewise and dented. She was lying a small cot in the corner of the cell, a mirror on the wall directly left of her.

Cana groaned, shaking her head. Where was she? How did she get here? She really doubted this was another one of her hangovers. But why did she vaguely feel as if…

She gasped as the day's events came flooding back to her. The guild. Laxus and Gajeel. Levy. Raven Tail. Laxus's attack must've been the cause of her… wound. Cana cursed under her breath. That man was going to pay.

Cana suddenly shuddered as she realized where she must be. Raven Tail. And a prisoner, no less. The guys must've knocked her out or something, to avoid letting her figure out their headquarters' location. Secretive. Cana was used to secrets, though. There was a reason she was a spy. You can't exactly graduate that shit without knowing every trick in the book.

There were three solid walls in the room, the fourth being barred. She could've almost laughed at how cliche it all was- a dark guild with a _dungeon_. She couldn't laugh, though. Her chest hurt too much. And it certainly wasn't an appropriate time, she thought to herself.

Cana had just been kidnapped by some of the most notorious black mages in all of Earthland. One of her closest friends was being being hunted down, probably at that exact moment. And oh, of course, her personal favorite- she was in the middle of a war.

Cana shook her head. It hadn't been supposed to go down this way. That morning… it had all started out so simple.

_One more time, she told herself. Just this last one._

_Cana shuffled her cards again, sitting at her usual spot atop the bar. She had done four card readings that day already. She needed better clarification on it- the results were always vague and more often than not, repeated the same cards over and over again._

Pain _was sometimes brought up, as was_ Nakama _and_. Battle, _though, were recurring. She wondered why these seemed to be so important. For the first time in a while, Cana felt almost unfamiliar with her cards._

_"Cana!"_

_The brunette turned to the sound of the greeting. Levy strode in the guild, stepping over broken furniture to reach her friend. "Hi, Levy."_

_"Good_ morning, _Cana. Drinking already?"_

_"Can't disappoint my fans." She gestured proudly to the empty guild hall._

_Levy laughed. "Anyway, I came here to apologize. I can't stay for our shift today." she said, biting her lip. Cana coolly lifted her eyebrow and took a sip of her drink. "Wendy and I are going on a mission-- well, not really a_ mission, _per say,more like a trip. But I'm not skipping our shift just to slack off, but like, it's important and I just thought-"_

_"It's okay, Levy." Cana said, rolling her eyes at the blabbering girl. "I'll just watch over the guild for now."_

_The petite girl's eyes instantly brightened. "Really? Thanks, Cana, you're a lifesaver!"_

_Cana bit back a smile. "I know. Now, shoo, go on your trip or whatever." Levy smiled gratefully once more before giving a little wave and exiting the guild. Cana sighed, putting her head down on the scratched counter of the bar. She prepared to spend the rest of what was probably an eventless day playing with her cards._


	5. Scars and Crushes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> gildarts and cana have their own share of reflecting to do. meanwhile, levy has reached the town of lana, and is preparing to begin the test she has been waiting for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this is so late, damn, I've been so crazy with nanowrimo this month that I forgot this actually needed updating... it's a bit short, but it's quality.

**Gildarts**

There were a lot of things Gildarts would have like to rather been doing at the moment. Going to the pub, for example. Or going back to sleep, or even just picking a fight with some random guy in his guild. _Anything_ , really, but being in Fiore’s Department of Destruction of Property at 7am on a Wednesday morning. 

He groaned, leaning back in his chair and dragging his fingers down his face. The dark skinned woman in front of him was put off for a moment, but hastily returned to shuffling and reshuffling the papers on her desk. “Mr Clove, it says here that--”

“Clive.”

She looked at him, open mouthed. “What?”

“It’s Gildarts Clive, sweetheart. Not Clove.”

She quickly nodded her head. “Yes, of course. Mr Clive, it says in this report that you were spotted outside Magnolia’s Fairy Tail headquarters hours before its apparent vandalism. Can you say anything to support or deny this?”

Gildarts only slumped backward in his chair. He crossed his heavily wrapped arms across his chest and put on his best grin. “That depends. Whatever makes you squirm, sweetcheeks.”

The office woman blushed crimson and driveled. “Is that- I don’t- are you confessing?”

“Why don’t we let fate decide that?”

She stared at him again, agape. He took this as the opportunity to lean forward and whisper, “Hey, how about you just call this whole complaint thing off? It’s gonna be a huge pain in the ass, really, for you and me both.”

She stuttered. “I, I can’t--”

He only shooed her off. “We can keep it between the two of us, right? Can’t you do me this one favor?” He put his gleaming teeth on display in desperate last effort.

She flushed again, looking down. “I mean, I _guess_ , but it would be against the ru--”

“Great!” He interrupted again, standing up. He gave her one last smirk. “I appreciate this, Linda, I really do.” he said, reading the plaque off her desk. “I hope I have the luck of meeting you again someday.” He swiftly turned and exited the office. _Phew_ , he thought. _That was close. Almost had to_ pay _for it_.

As he left the building, he barely acknowledged the thin silhouette peeling himself off the wall of the building to join in his stride across the street. “You’re late.” the figure noted.

“I had to take care of some complaints.”

“I’ve been waiting for you for over an hour,” the skinny man added a little angrily, glaring at him.

“You’ll live.”

The conversation ended there, the rest of the walk to the abandoned warehouse solemn with a hint of irritable tension drizzling off the younger man. He made this drizzling quite clear actually-- more like pouring cattle-- but Gildarts honestly didn’t seem to give a damn.

Gildarts Clive was a wizard of the dark, technically-- not really-- legal spy guild notoriously known as Raven Tail. They were infamous for getting the job done and simultaneously getting the clients injured or harassed in some way. Gildarts was also, as everyone knew, former second in command to Makarov Dreyar, and, one of the greatest mages known to Fiore. His past affiliation with Fairy Tail and current position in Raven Tail was all gossip could handle for two years, until people got over the fact that GIldarts Clive became a bad guy and wasn’t going to talk about why.

Honestly, he thought to himself bitterly, these kids in Raven Tail were getting it off easy. Most of them were either messed up in the head, raised to be messed up in the head, or just doing it for the money and living a recluse’s life, but either way, no one ever questioned their motives. They were just… evil. They didn’t need an explanation, or a line of rumors constantly snapping at their heels

Gildarts, though… GIldarts used to be a hero. He used to be young, and charming, and a hero known to everyone on Earthland. So when he dropped off the face of the planet for almost eighteen months, and then suddenly joined a nefarious spy’s league, people were astonished to say the least. So what was Gildarts’ motive? People haven’t figured that one out yet. But they would. Oh, yes, that juicy tale would be well on its way in just a short time.

The chestnut-haired man rounded another corner, and then another, before reaching an abandoned storefront. “Is this it?” Kurohebi asked. The older man ignored him and walked through the old building’s flapping doors. He ground his teeth in rhythm with the clicking of his shoes on the concrete floor. The other man simply sighed before following him. He watched as Gildarts stopped at a small soda vending machine. He peeled away a layer of fabric and pounded on the plastic doors. “Wait, am I supposed to--” the skinny man could barely finish his question before he felt the air sucked out of his lungs.

Guilt barely marred Gildarts’ thoughts as he shut his eyes and concentrated on the pixilating and breaking down of every atom in his and Kurohebi’s being. He was a variable, they all were, just variables introduced to this world as a material that could be drained any day. And variables could always be broken down. He put his willpower into imagining his destination, imaging him and Kurohebi on the jagged brown spikes that were his office--

\-- and then fell smoothly on his feet in a dirt landscape. He dusted off his cloak, turning to find his associate less graceful in his landing. He had fell on his back and quickly rolled into a four legged crouch, hissing.

“You could’ve _warned_ me.”

“I could have.”

He didn’t wait for Kurohebi before walking through the front doors of the inconspicuous road traveler stop, but the skinny man was already at Gildarts’ side by the time his boots hit the cherry wood floor. He frowned all the way up the staircase behind the information booth. Kurohebi was still lingering behind him. He wasn’t discreet about voicing his observation.

“You’re still here.”

When Kurohebi spoke, his voice was barely above a greasy whisper. “The Master would like me to escort you to his throne room.”

“What for?”

“He had a new prisoner brought in today.”

Gildarts paused at the top of the stairway. “And why does that require my presence?”

“The prisoner… she’s from Fairy Tail.”

Silence momentarily hung in the air before Gildarts brashly cut through it. “So what’s that got to do with me? I left those people a long time ago.”

Kurohebi gaped, his mouth opening and closing a few times before deciding on a poor blur of words. “B-but, the master said--”

“I don’t care what Ivan told you. I’m not coming. I have nothing to do with that guild anymore,” the older man growled, turning away with a wave of a tattered black cloak. 

\--------  
 **Cana**

Hours went by before she finally mustered the power to get off the bed. She had finished a glass of water that was lying on the floor next to the bed, and thankfully it hadn’t been long after that that the pain in her abdomen had started to decrease, until it was only a heavy ache, like a small rock had been chained to belly button. When she no longer needed to support herself by leaning on the wall, she trudged to the long mirror on the wall and immediately groaned. She looked like hell.

Her usually manageable hair was matted down and tangled in a lump. Her pants were smudged with grass stains and her belt was close to charred. She tried to run her long fingers through her brown locks, pulling through the knots. She flicked an ant off her shoulder and tried to focus on her face. She tried to focus on anything that wasn’t her stomach.

The scar was in the shape of a crescent. It was ruddy and wrinkled, no longer the peeling mess it was before, but deeper and still as visible. It ran in a diagonal line till it reached her belly button, where it stopped in a ragged twist. It was ugly, and it was all Cana could do to not trace it with her nails.

Angling her vision away from the mirror, she stared at the rest of her prison. A constant _drip drip_ echoed around the room, from the corner opposite to her. A family of ants crawled up the spine of the cot. She gingerly sat herself down on the cot again, and occupied herself by watching the black insects crawl steadily up the wood. 

Cana had faced lightning mages before. She had dealt with a _lot_ of different kinds of enemies. She had been hit enough times with lightning to know that it wasn’t a pleasant feeling to experience. But this time.. this time it had completely immobilized her. She had been helpless when they had chained her wrists together, when they had knocked her unconscious and dragged her behind the building and into an alley. And who knows how long she had been out, stuck in this cramped cell with ants crawling up and down her body? She felt like a failure. It had only taken one Raven Tail man to defeat her, and she hadn’t even put up that much of a fight. 

So what was it with Laxus that made him different? Why had one shot of lightning from him been all that it took to take her down? She had never received as big a scar as the one she adorned now, especially not from a lightning mage. There was something different about the way her had attacked her. What had he said right before she fell? Lightning _Drone? Drop?... Lightning…_

She gasped, her hand flying up to her mouth. Lightning Dragon’s Roar? He was a dragon slayer? Like Natsu and Wendy? She shook her head. Did the Master even know about this? What was he going to say when he hears that Raven Tail had a dragon slayer? Or would he already know? He did seem to be constantly keeping tabs on that guild.

But if that place ( _this_ place, actually) had more people just as strong as he was, would Fairy Tail be an even match for them when it came to the war? Or were the fairies going to fall to the ravens?

\----------  
 **Levy**

“C’mon Levy-chan, we’re going to fall behind!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming!”

The blunettes rushed to join the group of mages standing in a crowd around the platform. Levy put a hand to her face. “No way,” she groaned. “We’re way too short to see anything.”

“No problem,” Wendy said cheerily. She grabbed the older girl’s hand and gently not-so-gently pushed their way to the front of the crowd. Levy blushed embarrassedly as the people around her grumbled at their passing. She and Wendy were in the lobby of a hotel on the coast of Lana. After the wagon man had dropped them off the town’s border, they had walked the rest of the way here. Calling the town scenic was an understatement. It was absolutely _beautiful_. It was a beach town, which not only meant a great view, but also that Levy and Wendy were in bad luck because they hadn’t brought swimsuits. 

Hitting the shore was hardly the first thing on Levy’s mind, though. As she stood shoulder to shoulder with Wendy in the open lobby, her mind could only register one thing: she was was going to get those glasses, no matter what it took.

“Alright, alright, ladies and gentlemen, please, keep the noise to a minimum,” a tall brown man on the platform boomed. “Some of you might have already recognized me. My name is Lance Gavani, CEO of Gale-Force Inc.” An excited murmur swept through the audience. “You’re all here for one reason, of course. You’ve come here in hopes of obtaining a pair of the latest Gale-Force Reading Glasses; Model 120x.” Gavani paused to clear his throat, before pushing up his glasses and continuing. “I understand that you have all probably traveled very great distances for a shot at the product. But remember that all but one of you will go home empty handed today.”

Wendy exchanged a nervous look with Levy. They had always known it would be difficult, but being there, in front of the CEO himself, made the prospect of winning the glasses seem even more impossible.

“Now, that we’ve finished with the formalities-- Each of you have brought a partner, as advertised, and will be completing a few tests to determine your capability of handling the product. As you know, there are only fifty of these glasses in the entire Earthland. Only the _best_ of the best will pass this test. I am now going to turn over the rest of this presentation to my co-worker, Miss Blendy.”

A young girl with bubblegum hair bounced up from where she was seated next to Gavani and smiled brightly as she let the older man walk out of the room. “Hi everyone! Welcome to the City of Lana. I know what you’re thinking-- who let a kid in here?” a few audience members laughed. “But as it turns out, I’m more qualified to be here than 90% of you dolts so don’t get me started.” 

Her smile widened as the audience stiffened, obviously taken back by her sudden change of voice. “Good! This will be easy. Anyway, I might as well start off by introducing myself. My name is Cheliana Blendy, but you can call me Chelia. I’m a sophmore at Lana East High, and I was selected a few years ago by my school to work an internship in Gale-Force Inc. because of my high test scores and my ideas about using wind magic to extend the possibilities for Gale-Force products. As most of you probably know, wind magic can often be used as a healing or supporting magic, in both battle and every-day events. Thus, it was the perfect means of helping Gale-Force take a further leap ahead in technology.

“Because of my collaboration with Gale-Force scientists, I was able to introduce Gale-Force Reading Glasses Model 120x!” A collective gasp went through the crowd. A tiny “woah” escaped a certain thirteen-year old dragon slayer. Even Levy could not suppress her astonishment. This little girl, who couldn’t be much older than Wendy, was the face behind this new invention? 

“Alright, now that I’ve introduced myself, let’s move onto to the good stuff! The aptitude test you will be taking will require a partner, as my boss mentioned earlier. The first part of this test will be set up as a scavenger hunt.” A collective murmur started again. “Now the entire hotel is closed today, so it’s all open ground. Here’s how it’s going to work. You and your partner will each be teleported to a random room in the hotel and given a clue with a room number on it and a map. Now, only half of the rooms will be occupied. Each room is decorated differently-- for example, one might be fashioned to look like a theater, or another like a forest. 

“Once you find the room written on your clue slip, you’ll need the hint on the clue slip to find the next hidden clue, which will be somewhere in the room. But do remember! You will face other mages on your hunt. I mean, it’s only one floor of this hotel that we’re using, no matter how huge it is, so you’ll definitely meet up in the hallways or in other rooms.

“We kept this in mind though! That’s why, in some way, this scavenger hunt is also serving as a part time battle arena. Any time you defeat an opponent, you will be rewarded two points. Each time you are defeated, your team is deducted one point. Your points will be tracked through this lacrima scoreboard.” Chelia tapped her wristwatch and a small screen popped up. She swiped across the holographic screen. 

“Each of you will get one for the duration of this test. Along with the scoreboard, this holo-watch has a multitude of other accessories. It acts as a clock, compass, dictionary, messenger, and, my personal favorite-- the profiler! The profiler app is new to Gale-Force Inc., but it’s definitely a special one. I guess you could compare it to a pokedex of sorts, in that it scans the person directly in front of you and provides a small background summary of said person.” Levy internally whistled. Who knew such technology even existed?

“Moving on, there is no time limit for this test. Some competitions have gone on for over 24 hours; at least, in the other towns that we’ve visited. Your entire mission, to sum it up, is to gain as many points as possible while following a trail of clues to various destinations. You’ll be able to tell when you have reached the final clue. _All_ forms of magic are permitted-- as long as you don’t damage the hotel too much. No maiming or seriously injuring allowed either.” 

The young girl clapped her hands together and raised her eyebrows. “Any questions?” The crowd remained silent. “Perfect! I’m going to need you to take your partner and line up against the walls.”

Wendy took Levy’s hand once more and tried to navigate her through the sea of unfamiliar people towards the wall. She was nearly knocked over by a tall man with flowing green hair and a busty brunette trailing behind him. “Sorry hun.” the woman drawled. She did not sound sorry.

“So? What do you think of all this?” Wendy asked.

“Huh? Oh. I think we have a good chance.” Levy said, grinning. She was usually out beaten when it came to full on battle, but a scavenger hunt? This was _her_ domain. She leaned against the wall with her hands clasped in front of her, watching Chelia walk down the line of mages, handing out holo-watches. She looked to her side to see Wendy gaping at Chelia.

“Wendy?”

“Wha? Oh. Sorry, I kind of tuned out for a moment.” the younger girl said, her cheeks flushing. Levy smirked at her friend’s smitteness. 

“Can you believe that she’s really the person behind these glasses? She looks so…”

“Cute.”

“What was that?”

“N-NORMAL! I meant, she looks normal.” Wendy stuttered, her face now tomato red. Levy had to fight the urge to chortle. 

The girl in question walked up to them, smiling just as brightly as she had on stage. “Hi guys! Are you from around here?” she asked, while gesturing for them to give her their wrists. 

Levy obediently held out her hand. “No actually, we came here from Magnolia.”

“Wow, really?” the girl bubbled, snapping on the watch. The metal was cool against Levy’s skin. “My cousin lives there. Well, only after she got engaged. It’s a beautiful city, huh?” She moved on to Wendy all while talking. Levy couldn’t help but notice the way Wendy never lost eye contact with the girl. “So what’s your name?” 

Wendy’s eyes widened. “Wendy…” 

“Well, you should know that you’re really, really pretty, Wendy.” Chelia said happily, clasping the watch into place. Wendy stuttered for an answer, her eyes now the size of golfballs. If Chelia noticed, she did not show it. “Alright ladies, what I’m gonna need you to do is go over there and step onto the little blue platform, one at a time.” she explained, pointing to a corner of the lobby. “That’ll take you to your room, where you can start the test. Good luck!”

Levy politely smiled and thanked the girl before dragging a still-stricken Wendy to the teleporting platform. “You first,” she insisted when her friend looked at her. Wendy blew a little raspberry before stepping onto the glowing platform. One moment she was there, and the next she was gone in a ray of blue light. Levy bit her lip, looking around the room. Other mages were disappearing in similar terms, one by one. Levy turned away from them and curled her fists. 

She placed a foot on the platform and felt her stomach turn upside down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this was written aalll the way back when I first started watching pyscho pass, and that's where the holo watches were inspired from. admittedly, the ones wendy and chelia are using aren't that cool, but it also isn't 2113...
> 
> I actually liked this chapter-- it was cute in my opinion, especially Wendy having a huge dorky crush on Shelia, who I wrote to be a quirky, talkative, child prodigy with cute hair (bc why not?). also, if you weren't able to catch it, the entire idea of the test was a throwback to the fantasia arc and the hunty-in-the-city thing they did in the grand magic games arc.
> 
> alright, sweet, please review! the next chapter will be up much sooner!


	6. But I Thought He Was Slavic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> cana meets guild master of her captors.

**Cana**

It was after two days in the stale cell, windowless and devoid of any light except an oil lamp, lying on her back on the cot, raking her fingers through her hair and _bitterly_ wanting her missing blue purse that always had a flask and some oreos in it to quench her everlasting hunger, that Cana realized something pretty unsettling; she might not be getting out of this place.

At first, she had assumed that they had brought her in for a specific reason. Maybe as a hostage, or for an interrogation. But it was only then, on her fourth something day in the place, that she realized she might just have been a pointless figurehead for them to kill. It wouldn’t be below Raven Tail to take a random person and execute them, maybe to send a message to Fairy Tail, or maybe even just for the fun of it. But that didn’t count the fact that she was still alive.

It also didn’t explain how, when Laxus and Gajeel had broken into Fairy Tail, they had known exactly who they were looking for. They had asked about Levy. How would they even know who she was, much less where and when to find her in the guild, if someone hadn’t been feeding them some kind of information? None of it added up in Cana’s mind.

And why were they at the orphanage? No one even knew that she worked there other than Wendy, Gray, and the Master. Unless they had met her there on accident and followed her to the guild the next day? No, no, that theory was ignoring the fact that they were already in Magnolia at the time and that they were looking for Levy and herself in specific. Man, this was all her fault.

How could she have been so _stupid_? Two huge men like Laxus and Gajeel don’t just go sauntering about around orphanages. She couldn’t believe she had opened up to him, treated him as an equal on the porch that night. She couldn’t believe she had fell for Laxus’s anonymous hero act. She wished she had just let him get crushed under that stupid bookshelf.

She was so busy in her thoughts, she nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the footsteps. They resounded for almost a minute. _Long hallway_ , she noted. They stopped in front of her door and let out a huff of breath. _Male_.

She kept her eyes trained on the ceiling. “I don’t suppose you’re here to let me out.”

“You seem to have calmed down since I last I saw you.” _Laxus_.

She turned her gaze sharply to the man leaning on the bars of her cell. Her fingers stopped their work in her hair. “The last time you saw me, you attacked me and knocked me unconscious. I think I had a right not be calm.” she hissed.

He shifted and clutched the bars. “No, I mean... I came by a while back and you were--”

“You were watching me while I was sleeping?” she inquired vexedly.

He barely blinked. “No, I just came by to leave some water. You yell and move a lot in your sleep.”

She grit her teeth. She had been having another night terror, not unusual for her, but still just as embarrassing. She was ashamed of herself for sleeping right through his coming into her cell. Somehow his being there while she was sleeping, and _making a fit_ (who knew what he had heard?), felt like an even bigger breach of security than locking her in a shitty dungeon.

“And to answer your question; yeah, I’m here to let you out.”

She sat up and swung her legs off the cot. “Seriously? Mind explaining what the hell is going on, too?” she demanded.

“You can get all the information you need when you meet the Master.” he grumbled, fitting the keys into the lock on her cell. It clicked and he swung the bars open. “Come on.”

She hesitated, raising her eyebrows. “How do you know I won’t escape?”

“Handcuffs.” Then he snorted. “How do you think you _could_? You don’t have your little bag of card tricks and I’m about twice your size.”

“Sorry,” she drawled, rolling her eyes. “I guess I underestimated your strength, seeing as how my first encounter with you was saving you from being defeated by a _shelf_.”

Laxus fumed and pointed his index finger at her. “That was a _very_ heavy bookshelf!”

It was Cana’s turn to snort. “Yeah. Right. Whatever keeps your ego up and running.” She got off the cot, stretching and wincing slightly as her actions took a toll on her stomach.

Her small action did not go unmissed by Laxus though. The minute she stood, his jaw went slack. His eyes were locked on her scar, which he had previously failed to notice. “W-What is that?”

She narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms. “Seriously? You have the nerve to play dumb?”

“What are you talking about?”

“ _You’re_ the one who gave this to me dumbass. You don’t remember striking me down with lightning? Or have you never even considered the toll your powers take on the people you use them on?” she ventured angrily, stepping closer to him. She was breathing heavily.

“ _I_ did that?” he said slowly.

“Stop acting oblivious!” she suddenly shouted, unconscious of her nails cutting into her palms. If there was anything Cana hated the most in the world, it was enemies trying to make her sympathize for them. Where did he get off being a jackass with puppy dog eyes? She stepped even closer to him, their almost equal height a slamming factor, until her face was only inches away from his. “You should know by now that the people you attack actually get _hurt_ , whether you choose to ignore it or not.” she snarled, her voice low.

This seemed to get Laxus out of his initial state of shock. He narrowed his eyes, stepping back so that they were no longer face to face. “Just follow me.” he said, walking out of the cell with his mouth turned down in the corners.  
\---------

**Laxus**

As he led a now handcuffed Cana out of the cell and down the dungeon corridor, Laxus had to force himself to slow his breathing. This-- this _fairy_ was absolutely infuriating! How dare she question his choices? She was just some waste that got left on the doorstep of Fairy Tail because no one else would take her in. He bet she was annoying then, too. Probably pissed people off just as much as she was pissing him off now.

He stomped up the first flight of stairs, passed the entrance to the rest-stop lobby. He could hear her clunking slowly behind him, wheezing every once and a while. Her struggle brought his thoughts back to what he had witnessed in the cell.

The scar had been _huge_ , plunging from her breastbone straight down to her navel. When he had seen it, he’d been aghast, unable to take his eyes off of it. _He_ had done that to her? He had seen what his lightning did to people, but never before had he stayed around to see just what it could do after time took its toll. He couldn't get the image out of his mind. He felt like he had split her stomach right open. Like he had--

_No_ , Laxus reminded himself, _you do_ not _feel guilty about hurting fairies. They’re weak_. Laxus did his best to keep this dictum in the front of his mind every time he spoke to Cana.

As he continued up what had to be an everlasting staircase, he only managed to convince himself further that she was not worth being of his attention. She was _weak_ , and useless. I mean who had nightmares anymore? Who works at some orphanage when they’re _nineteen_? What kind of woman has the nerve to be that tall? What kind of woman carries fucking beer and oreos everywhere she goes?

He rattled off all the things he had learned about her in their short time while opening the door to the commons area of the guild. He had hoped to dear god it had been empty, but Kurohebi and Gajeel were lounging on the couch. Well, _Gajeel_ was lounging-- his hands folded over his head as he sat with his legs apart and eyes closed on the leather couch. Kurohebi, the creep, was standing off to the side with his back against the wall, holding a sheet of paper in his hands that he started reading off of the moment Laxus and Cana stepped into the room.

“Cana Alberona.” he started, his waxy voice raising hairs on the back of Cana’s neck. “19 years old, assassin of Fairy Tail, specializes in card magic. Carries her liquor better than anyone in Magnolia. Frequent points of destination include the Magnolia’s police office, Loki’s Bar & Restaurant,and Marie Adah’s Orphanage. Height, approximately five feet nine inches.”

She bristled next to Laxus. “How the fuck do you know how tall I am?”

“Easy,” he said, his long lips curling. “Our Laxus here is easily just a smidge taller than you, if my eyes are correct. Does that annoy you, Laxus?”

“Shut up Kurohebi. Why are you here?”

“Oh, Laxus, don’t be so cold.” The skinny man purred, avoiding the question. He suddenly stared at Laxus, before pursing his lips.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” Laxus asked, frowning.

“Nothing, just haven’t seen the mighty Laxus’s face scraped up like that in a very long time.”

Laxus looked at the man blankly for a moment before his nostrils flared as he realized what Kurohebi was relating the thin cuts on his forehead from Cana’s magic to. How _dare_ he--

“Easy, Laxus. Don’t let this ass get you worked up.” the darker man on the couch suddenly murmured, opening his eyes. His did a once over on Cana before locking his red eyes with her grey ones. “The fuck happened to your stomach?”

Cana gave a bitter laugh and Laxus exhaustedly buried his face in his hand. “Your partner here struck some lightning through it. Were you seriously not there? Oh, no, I remember now. You were getting ready to try and choke me and knock me out with that metal rod of yours.” she snapped, desperately wishing she could cross her arms; sadly her handcuffs restricted her from doing so.

He met her irritation with a raise of the eyebrows. “What metal rod?” he asked cockily, quickly molding a makeshift shaft from his shoulder for her to see. She quietly _wow_ ed in her mind, careful to keep an impassive expression. She had never heard of a metal mage turning into metal himself, but she wasn’t about to let him know that.

“Fantastic.” she said flatly, meeting his smug expression with a stone hard gaze. Laxus wondered if she was always felt the need to be so sassy.

Gajeel’s eyebrows narrowed before he turned away to lift himself off the couch. The muscles of his arm bulged as he crossed them across his chest. “We’re here to take you the to throne room,” he grumbled, looking to Laxus. “Master’s waiting.”  
\---------

**Cana**

As the three men walked her to up another set of stairs to what they had called the “throne room” (really? how morbid) Cana took inventory. Laxus, she had had plenty of time to size up, but she went over his details again anyway. He was slightly taller than her, largely built with broad shoulders and a strong jaw. Blonde hair, pale skin, and an almost constant frown. Whenever she saw him he was covered with a large purple coat lined with silver fur, two huge spiked headphones poking out of his ears (honestly, how did he hear with those things plugged in there?). His face was marred with a lightning-shaped scar (ironic?) stretching down his right eye. Cana lingered on that feature. It was orange with age, meaning it must’ve taken shape a long time ago. She wondered if that was what the man named Kurohebi had teased at. She remembered how angry his face had gotten when he heard that…

Gajeel, she noticed, was a bit less stoic than his friend, but just as intimidating. He was almost equal to Laxus in height… She wondered how much scarier they would’ve looked to her if she hadn’t had been born tall. He was dark skinned, with metal studs piercing his eyebrows (ouch), nose, chin, arms, and ears. He was dressed in a black baggy shirt with puffy white trousers, a metal belt and (surprise!)metal laced combat boots. His hair was a spiky black mess, darting down his back in almost cartoon-like triangles. His red eyes were, if anything, unsettling. His face was usually drawn back or on the edge of a smirk, but the way he had stared at her before, as if he was reading her mind, made her wonder how often one came across a man with red eyes. And, perhaps, if they had some kind of magic to them that made them so bright.

Gajeel seemed to be pretty close to Laxus-- perhaps partners? They had been together at the orphanage, then the guild, and now at each other’s side. They had a comfortable air about them, the same kind of ease that Cana felt when she was with Gray or Loki.

Needless to say, Laxus was clearly _not_ friendly with Kurohebi. She barely wondered why-- she got goosebumps simply standing in the same room as that kid. What kind of name was Kurohebi, anyway? Well, he certainly lived up to its meaning. He was straight as a pole and had spiky black hair that fell in greasy locks. His lips and eyes were painted black and contrasted unpleasantly with his yellowish skin. He was composed of sharp, angular features-- shoulders, chin, and ears. That was only the beginning though-- what creeped her out the most was his skin tight black shirt that reached down to his fingers and compressed his waist to sheet-like appearances. His ribs poked out like scales, on a, well, _snake_.

The entire time she had been in the common room of this place with him, his eyes had somehow found a way to make her want to sink into floor. They were reptilic and jet black. She wondered if someone like him was even human. She had felt even more uneasy when she had heard her name slide off his tongue-- she didn’t want someone like him within ten feet of her.

Yet, here he was, just two feet behind her in the rear of her escort party. She hated the fact that she couldn’t keep her eyes on him at all times. She slowly tried sneaking a peek over her shoulder, but jerked back as soon as she saw his smirk and sharp eyes focused entirely on her.

Cana had already decided it would be impossible to try and escape. Gajeel and Laxus were leading the group, and were both pretty buff. Kurohebi looked like someone she could knock out, but she didn’t feel like testing her chances with a creep like him. Plus her hands were still cuffed, and she couldn’t exactly take all three of them on in a fist fight, even though she usually excelled in those kinds of situations. She sighed.

She wished she wasn’t alone in this. Loki would’ve broken her out of the prison by now with his spirit powers, if he had known where she was. Mirajane and Erza would’ve torn down the entire place, and Gray would be right behind them. If Levy were here she would’ve been able to do something about the cryptic runes dotting the metal that surrounded Cana’s wrists.

Then again, if Levy was here she would probably be in handcuffs too.

The men in front of Cana finally halted at a set of royal blue doors, checking behind them once before pushing them open. This time Cana couldn’t rely on her instinct to hide her emotions. She stopped, awestruck, at the sight around her.

It was _grotesque_ , yet magnificent at the same time. The walls were a deep maroon with fading torches leading down the walls, brass handles each intertwined with juniper vines. The plants wrapped around the entire room, covering the walls almost as much as the pedestals. Oh, the pedestals. She fought to keep her empty stomach from turning over as the examined the rows of cryogenic glass cases, each holding a different sort of monstrosity. The ones closest to the door held three different decapitated heads, all with the same, jovial expressions plastered on their face, like they were celebrating in their last moments of living. Further down the line you could see an ownerless hand holding out a glass of wine, almost as if offering it to her. The rows of what were probably meant to be displayed as trophies reached till the end of the room, where a dark figure sat lazily on a rot iron throne. She was truly in a dark guild’s base, as she hadn’t stressed on before.

“EHUH _WALK_ EHUH.”

Cana looked up, blinking out of her stupor. Gajeel was waiting in front of her, an almost warning look on his face while her gestured for her to keep walking. She obeyed, keeping a steady pace while still dealing glances to the walls and the snake following her, till she reached the throne and had nothing to look at but the throne master himself. His tawny, hardened skin was almost liquified as he was sprawled in his chair, his dark hair framing his face in thin swirls.

“So I finally get to meet the famous Mademoiselle Alberona? Just as beautiful as they say.” he said giddily in a scratchy thin accent, not unlike the vines creeping down his walls and around the arms of his throne. Cana shrunk away from his form disgustedly, only to be shoved back forward by the man she had forgot was behind her.

“Oh, I’m offended!” the man continued when she refused to reply, dramatically lifting his arms in exasperation. “Have I made a bad impression on you already?”

“Define bad impressions,” Cana spat, regaining her tongue. “Because I can name several.”

His tawny cheeks stretched in his host-smile. “Ah, just as… brazen as the tale goes.”

Cana paused momentarily. “Heard a lot about me, have you?” she asked, shifting from foot to foot. She glanced at Gajeel and Laxus, now standing to the man’s right with Kurohebi and a few others who she could assume were guild members. “Then we don’t need to waste time lying. Cut the crap and tell me who you are.” she ended boldly, this time stepping forward. She knew who she was talking to, and where she was and several ways this situation could pan out. But her experience as an assassin told her to play her cards carefully and not reveal more about herself that he would about him.

The man sat up in his chair, as if it she had suddenly became interesting. “How rude of me! I never introduced myself, did I? My name is Ivan Durhams, master of Raven Tail,” the man who called himself Ivan explained, standing up and leaping off his chair as if to greet her properly. She was mentally scoffing till he actually did, grabbing her hand forcefully and placing a wet kiss on it. She grunted in abhorrence before yanking it back and moving away.

“Don’t touch me.” she growled, eyes narrowing. This man was a whole different type of irritating.

Ivan tilted his head and smirked. His arms raised in a mock sign of surrender. “You got me. Now I’m assuming you’d like to formally introduce yourself too?” he added. Neither of their mouths opened. He sighed dramatically, as if his prisoner had finally bored him. “Alright then, I’d better start out, yes? How are you liking your stay here?”

Cana stood appalled. “What the hell is it with you Raven Tail people? You might be able to hide your crimes with fancy-ass words, but I don’t work that way. Just tell me why I’m here!” she demanded.

He only raised an eyebrow in false confusion. “Us Raven Tail people? Don’t tell me you have heard of our guild?” he said sarcastically, looking behind him. His subordinates gave a round of forced laughter. “Now, Mademoiselle Alberona, if I might continue. The reason I’ve brought you here is hardly important right now. I think we ought to get to know each other first, yes? How about over some dinner?”

Cana gaped. Was… was he being serious? He had just kidnapped her and kept her locked underground to ask her to _hit on her_? “Okay… what the actual fuck is wrong with you?” she asked disbelievingly. “ Could you be straight with me already? Who the hell do you think you are, asking someone you're at _war_ with--” she shook her shackled hands wildly, “-- for dinner?” He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off angrily. “I’m not taking your bullshit!”

His smile turned strained. “My Mademoiselle--”

“Stop with the fucking tone!”

He watched her a moment, as if debating whether or not she was important enough to argue with. He must’ve decided on the latter, for he turned away a moment later. “Very well.” His pleasant tone was gone. “Flare. Juvia. Take the Mademoiselle back to her cell.” He waved his hand idly to two women standing next to the throne and proceeded to walk to an exit in the back of the room. “Laxus and Gajeel, come with me. Kurohebi, go find Gildarts and tell him to get his ass into my office.”

Cana froze, the chains around her wrists suddenly feeling heavier as the two impassive looking women strode towards her. Did he just… Had she heard that name correctly? “Wait!” she cried, surprising herself. Ivan halted. “I… I accept your offer.” she concurred quietly, looking to his back. 

“What was that?” he inquired innocently.

“I accept your offer.” She said louder, annoyed. “I’ll go to your stupid dinner.”

He smiled triumphantly, turning all the way around and meeting eyes with hers. She loathed the smugness swimming in them. “Fantastique! Juvia, please escort Mademoiselle back to her… living quarters.” he repeated, stressing on the words “living quarters” and giving a specific look to the blue haired woman next to him. She gave a small nod before walking past Laxus and Gajeel to Cana, motioning that she should follow her back out of the throne room.

Cana did, throwing a last glance over her shoulder. Laxus and Gajeel were following Ivan in the other direction, and the redhead Ivan had referred to as Flare was watching her eerily. Cana finally turned away when she locked eyes with Kurohebi, shuddering and trying to get his sick appearance out of her mind in order to let a new one, much blurrier with age, flutter in.  
\----------

**Flare**

Scarlet heels tapped against the marble elevators surface as Flare impatiently checked her nails for flaws. They shined, glossed as always, in the lift’s dim light. She waited till the slight _ding_ permitted her to leave the cramped elevator and headed out the hotel’s front door.

Her hip-length hair flew behind her as she she stepped into the city’s icy wind. She held the front of her red coat together while doing avoiding the cat calls and whispers following her.

“Hey baby, you seem cold.” a scruffy looking man in jeans called to her, stopping in front of her to keep her from walking away. The tips of her hair twitched annoyedly. His breath reeked of weed. “Want me to warm you up?” he asked, grinning with a set of yellow teeth.

Rolling her eyes, Flare looked straight at the stranger, her twisted eyes piercing holes into his forehead. He backed away, his smile gone. She didn’t even have to _say_ anything. But her pride of course...

“I’m busy.” she answered, before curling a tendril of hair around his shoulders and throwing him into the nearest taxi. He yelped, knocking his head on the license plate and crumpling into a heap on the asphalt. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and dusted imaginary dirt off her shoulders before continuing her brisk stride down the block. “I’ve got some very interesting things to report to my boss.”


	7. Victory in Teaspoons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> gajeel and laxus are each given new missions, while cana awaits her dinner with the master of Raven Tail

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so... i heard zayn malik left 1D

**Levy**

Of all the places Levy could have been transported, it of course, turned out to be a small library. 

The small script mage moaned, picking herself off of the huge pile of books she had landed painfully on. She rubbed at her head. “Ow.”

“Levy-chan, are you okay?” Wendy bubbled, frantically rushing over to help her friend. Levy tried not to show envy of the smaller girl’s graceful landing (what with her wind magic) as she was helped up. She dusted herself off and took a small circumspection of the room she had arrived in, its neatly stacked bookcases and comfortable pillows, dotted along the wooden floor. It was comfortably small, and filled with only books, excluding the primly dressed bed, sitting in the corner of the room under a large window. Levy nodded for Wendy to follow her as she strode to the bed, picking a small white notecard off its pillow. 

_Your map is under the pillow. Your first clue is: What deep place does a man seek in order to rekindle all his senses but breath?_

Levys eyebrows scrunched together, putting off the thoughts swirling around her head and sliding her hand under the plump pillow to retrieve the map. She handed the clue to Wendy and studied the map.

The floor of the hotel they were using was pretty big, she noted, taking in how small the _YOU ARE HERE!_ circle was compared to the rest of the floorplan. Thinly created squares dotted the map, each one with a different name. The square she and Wendy were in was labeled “the book room”, but the other rooms sounded a lot less simple. Levy frowned when she read the words “the pokemon room” and her lips tugged even further down at the mention of, “the bee room”. That one she was definitely going to steer clear of.

“Levy!”

“Yes?”

Wendy bounced around happily, the note card wrinkled between her delicate fingers. “I knoow what it isss.” she sang. 

Levy’s mouth opened in surprise. “That was way too fast, tell me.”

Wendy simply pointed to the window. The taller girl’s eyebrows furrowed, confused. “What…?”

“The view, Levy, the view!”

Levy turned around once more, then her eyes widened as the realization kicked in. The widow was angled around the view of the town’s magnificent shore, it’s blue waves lapping gently in the distance. Deep…? Everything but breath?

Levy slowly smiled. “Wendy, I’m so glad you’re here. Let’s go!”  
\--------

**Gajeel**

Gajeel wouldn’t be kidding if he said he was scared out of his wits at the moment.

The second time this week that he had fucked up a mission. If he wasn’t bleeding by the time he left the office, the world might as well have turned upside down. 

He and Laxus walked quietly behind their master. Gajeel glanced over to check Laxus’s expression, and was immediately surprised. He looked angry, or, at least, somewhat annoyed, and Gajeel couldn’t help but wonder why. He knew Laxus never received much special treatment from his father, so shouldn’t he be afraid of what was going to happen next?

Or maybe Gajeel was just looking at it too much from his perspective. Laxus had been assigned to Cana, and he to the Levy chick. Only one of them had come back empty handed. That was almost three days ago, and the Master hadn’t requested his presence until this moment. Maybe it was a good sign, that he wasn’t calling in just him by himself. Maybe he was being merciful?

Gajeel internally snorted the moment that thought entered his mind.

When they reached the end of the throne room, Cana and Juvia were already gone, off to the “living quarters” the master had specified. Kurohebi had slithered back after them, probably to find Gildarts. Flare was last to leave, closing the grand throne room doors behind her. A less impressive set of doors greeted the men at the end of the room, and each slipped through it, each with different thoughts running through their head.

“Laxus, Redfox. You already were briefed on the full plan, _ja_?” a now seated Ivan asked, his voice returning to it’s usual blunt manner, accent only making his seem more intimidating. The men nodded their heads in confirmation, and Ivan leaned back in his chair, head held high and arms seated.

“So far we have minor set backs. We only have _one_ prisoner,”-- Gajeel looked down-- “and the missing one is just so-- missing.” Silence ensued the room, and Gajeel didn’t realize the other men had been both looking at him till the master barked out his name. He looked up and connected eyes with the man. His face was hard, but his master’s harder, and he broke off the contact, grumbling out a “yes?”. The master’s voice was not smug, but Gajeel was sure that if he looked back, the old man would be smirking. “Consider yourself treading on ice from here on, _garçon_. You mess up one more time, or give me one more reason to think you are a burden to this war, and I will not hesitate to banish you from this guild.”

Gajeel looked up, startled, and even Laxus rose from his silence. “Master, you can’t possibly--”

“I do not need reminding of what I can and cannot do from you, Laxus.” Ivan cut short, warning in his voice. Laxus looked away with finality, but Gajeel could not find the usual attitude or ability to appear stoic in front of others in himself in that moment, and his gaze remained locked on his master’s face. “The plan will be moving slower now, but victory is never too far from me to be held onto.” Ivan continued, voice showing his now clearly pleased with himself. “Redfox, this is your last chance. I want you to find the McGarden girl, and bring her back. I don’t care if you have to _damage_ her as you did with the other, but she must be alive, and in her wits, to fulfill her purpose. You have two days.”

Gajeel gulped silently, but nodded his head in acceptance. His composure returned to him. Of course he could find the girl within two days. Assuming she was within two day’s time travel. Of course. Of course.

“Laxus.” Gajeel looked away, waiting for what awaited his partner. “Our prisoner has not been most cooperative, but she’s no longer your responsibility. You have a new mission. The… book, that this plan required in order to be carried out, was never successfully retrieved from the fairy’s home base.” The master continued, and Gajeel could practically feel the man’s words glaring at him. “You will go back and search for it. You will lay _low_ \-- we’re not getting the police involved in this. Avoid fairy scum at all costs.”

Laxus nodded, and the master dismissed them both with a wave of his hand, Gajeel following him out. The two walked in different modes of thinking through the throne hall, then split up at the end, knowing that both would be working together once again, in pursuit of Fairy Tail’s homebase for the second time. Gajeel headed to the mess hall, now, as Laxus headed upstairs. The dark haired mage was certain that he would have to brace his stomach for the long journey ahead of him once more.  
\------------

**Laxus**

“I’ll talk to Gildarts about the transportation.”

“Yeah,” Gajeel grumbled.

Laxus turned briefly to his partner, noticing the man’s sudden quietness, and mulled over the fact that the man wasn’t trying to reveal his anxiousness for his coming task. Yet he had every right to be feeling the way he was-- after all, if he wasn’t back with the Master’s prisoner in two days, he’d be kicked out, permanently. The Master didn’t joke about those things.

Laxus opened his mouth in attempt to say something--oh he didn’t know, comforting?-- but quickly shut it, knowing that he wasn’t so great at the emotional gig. “We can leave in a few hours.”

Gajeel nodded in response, and as the two reached the top of the hallway, they went their separate paths. Shortly after Laxus entered his room, he exited it again, finding the door across from his wide open. “Bickslow.” He said simply, staring.

His friend was laying on the floor parallel to the end of his bed, legs balanced on the sheets while his knees were hooked at the edge, his head and back resting on the floor. His position wasn’t so much what was unusual, but rather, his occupation. As Laxus watched, he had several of his dolls floating above his head, holding open a sort of digital screen projector for him to stare at. It was a piece of technology Laxus had never seen before.

When he heard his name, Bickslow turned. “Yo.”

Laxus let his curiosity lead the way as he entered the room, stopping in front of the man. As he did, he vaguely took in the room’s makeup, magazines posted to the walls, a bed dressed in deep purple materials, old pizza boxes littering the floor. “What is that?”

“Freed bought it, it’s a-- uh, what was it called?” Bickslow lamely scratched his head for a moment. “Oh yeah, a Broadcaster. Wanna see?”

Laxus hesitated a minute, then glanced at the hallway. It seemed to be empty. He slowly lowered himself onto the ground, his head placed a strict foot away from Bickslow’s, and stared up at the screen. He squinted at the image above him. One half of the screen was a moving videotape of sorts, like clips from a reality TV show, and the other was subtitles for an ongoing commentary that Laxus could make out perfectly, seeing as how it was going quite slow. The top of the screen had the words ‘Gale Force Inc.: Battle for Model 120x” printed in a swirly font. Laxus’s eyes flickered the ongoing scenes that changed every minute or so, noticing that each one usually consisted of two-on-two battles between mages, in long cream colored hallways or in what seemed to be hotel rooms with an odd sense of decoration skills.

“What is that?” Laxus repeated.

“Freed and Ever went to this nerd thing in Lana.” Bickslow said simply. “They didn’t have room for a third, so I’ve been looking through this thing. Cool, yeah?”

Laxus didn’t respond, but kept his eyes focused on the screen. After another minute of staring, his eyebrows rose in a surprised motion as Ever and Freed appeared on the screen, seemingly taking down a pair of mages. “Go them,” Bickslow said somewhat enthusiastically. After their opponents fell to the ground, seemingly unconscious, a new line of text on the commentary half of the screen appeared. _Four points to team Freed and Ever_. “Hooray,” Bickslow quietly remarked once more.

Laxus couldn’t notice it at first, but as the picture moved away from the two defeated mages, it quickly swiveled back, like the cameraman was doing a double-take. Just as Freed and Ever were about to turn away, a new pair of images popped up behind them, quickly engaging them in battle. Laxus raised a brow as a small, blue-haired and definitely recognizable attacker revealed herself.

His brow furrowed. “Levy McGarden.”

\----

**Cana**

Cana had never lived luxuriously.

When she was born, she had been a surprise to her mother. The two of them were only able to live on the several small jobs Cornelia had taken up in the few months prior, never having expected to have to support a child. When she was six years old, her mother passed away in an alleyway, wallet gone and a knife in her stomach. Afterwards, Cana was sent to Mother Adah’s Orphanage, a mile away from her mother and her’s home, and remained there until the humble age of sixteen. Life there was noticeably classier than her early life, with food regularly on the table and no need to use her money for more than personal fancies. The day after she hit sixteen, she moved out, into an affordable apartment less than a ten minute’s walk from the Fairy Tail guild building. At this point she was financially stable with a steady job as a mage, and no adults supporting her.

And so she’d lived lower-class child, a government-dependant orphan, and a middle-class independent woman, but never luxurious. Never rich. Never upper-class, never with money glaring at her from every corner, never with the ability to do whatever she pleased without having to worry of consequences.

And at the moment, Cana Alberona was in the richest room she’d ever stepped foot in.

It was a passionate maroon, with white trimming the wall’s edges, and a beautiful cherry-wood floor. It could be compared to the throne room itself, except it was much smaller, without the grotesque taste of decoration. Instead dimly lit lamps hung from the wall, with small flower pots in each corner of the room, like a small distraction from the fact that she was in a dark guild. A decent sized bed dressed in white cotton sat along one wall, along with a very wide, very heavy vanity and stool. In the far corner was the small door leading to single toilet and sink.

Cana sat idly in the plump bed, head leaning against the wall, drumming her cuffed hands’ fingers across her stomach. She couldn’t find the will to sleep, not after, one, the fact that she might fall into a nightmare and embarrass herself in front of someone again, and two, she was more than a bit anxious of rendering herself unconscious in her current location. 

As beautiful as the room’s furnishings were, it was still small, and eerily quiet, like there were no other humans on the floor. It was devoid of windows, and the flickering lights were a constant reminder of that. More than regal, the room was, in Cana’s opinion, simply another prison cell.

Cana groaned, shifting her position so now she lay completely on her back, staring at a stainless ceiling. It felt like hours had passed, since she’d been presented to Ivan Dreyar. After the quiet woman named Juvia had dropped her off in the room, with a obvious lock clicked into the door, Cana had nothing to do but explore the room, and eventually retire to the softness of the bed, speculating as to why a dark guild master out to destroy her friends’ lives was treating her to four star accommodation.

Cana remembered the words that had seemed to drift almost off-handedly out of his mouth. The name that rolled casually off his tongue, like every other accented thing to come from him, but which stuck to Cana ten times harder.

_Find Gildarts, and tell him to get his ass into my office._

She’d heard that correctly. No one else had been speaking. Gildarts. Gildarts.

_Gildarts._

Cana had felt her heart stop beating for a minute there, confused, surprised, excited-- horrified, because what was that sort of name doing in Raven Tail? Her split second decision bought her more time, knowing that if she agreed to play the man’s game, she’d be able to figure out more about her father’s knowing him. 

Did this mean that he lived here, in Raven Tail? Or was he here on someone else’s account? Cana couldn’t help but scrunch her face up in her solitude, frustrated with the muddle of information she was stuck with. Before her mom passed away, the only thing she had ever told Cana about her father was that he was a very powerful wizard, from a very powerful guild. Cana could never have imagined she’d meant a dark guild. When she was eight, and found herself coming regularly at Fairy Tail, she’d always dreamt of somehow finding her father there-- after all, Fairy Tail had seemed like the most powerful guild in the world, and it was in the same town as her mother and her’s abode. She’d spent years, disappointed but waiting for her father at the guild, till one day she simply stopped considering his arrival possible. She’d expected him to be deceased, or maybe just in a different part of the world, but never for him to be working for her nemesis guild. Never to be… evil.

But was he evil? Could he be evil, if he was her father? Cana wondered if he knew she was here. If he knew his daughter might be killed at the merciless hands of Ivan Dreyar any day now.

For the first time, Cana wondered if he knew she existed.

The jingling of keys interrupted her thoughts, and she moved to sit up on the bed. A second later the door swung open, and the blue haired woman had returned, a somber look on her face similar to what Cana had seen earlier. Cana moved off the bed, expecting to be led out of the room again, but paused in her tracks as she realized that the woman wasn’t empty handed. “What the hell is that?”

Juvia seemed unperturbed by her words, closing the remaining gap between them and depositing the heap of cloth and frills in Cana’s arms. “The Master has requested you wear this to the dinner.” 

Cana’s nose wrinkled somewhat as the heavy gown sat in her arms. “I’m not wearing this crap.”

“The Master had requested you wear this to the dinner,” Juvia repeated, unfazed by her prisoner’s language. “It is understood that you cannot get dressed without the use of both hands, and therefore you will be released temporarily.” Cana stood still as the woman used the ring of keys in her hands to unlock her magic canceling cuffs. Cana froze, easily surprised by her sudden liberation, but soon regained her wits, and swung a fist out at the woman at her. 

Juvia stepped backwards, expression suddenly tense, and Cana charged again, using the poof of material in her hands to tackle the woman. Her opponent had obviously never been in a fist-fight in her life, because Cana’s weight easily won and they fell forwards, the woman under her squirming and eyes finally popping, finally showing some emotion. Unwilling to actually smother her, Cana used her knees to pin her arms to the floor and deftly tied one of the dress’s sleeves around the woman’s mouth, tying it in the back and cutting off any noises the woman could make, and the other around her hands, keeping them locked behind the woman’s back. 

Then she sprang back and lifted up the skirt of the dress, dragging Juvia quite unceremoniously across the floor towards the vanity. The struggle was unpleasant, but simple, the only defense the woman could put up being muffled sounds of complaint and heels scratching repeatedly against the wooden floors.

Cana carefully lifted up the vanity a few inches, grunting in strain, before slipping the majority of the dresses skirt underneath and dropping it once more. Then she walked backwards, admiring her handy work, Juvia cried out against her mouth bind, pulling at the cloth holding her back.

“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you,” Cana remarked offhandedly, and the woman stopped in her struggle, eyes furious but waiting. “That’s a really heavy vanity,” Cana continued. “Pull too hard and… Oh I don’t know, maybe a couple hundred pounds will come crashing down on you?” Juvia’s eyes widened by a fraction, and she slumped against the vanity, defeated. Cana let herself smirk, even though this was an easy victory on her part. Who weaponlessly uncuffs their prisoner, anyway?

Then she stepped backwards, looking once more to the closed door. Knowing that her time might be running, she grabbed the fallen key ring, hooking it onto her bikini top strap and strolling towards her exit. Grinning, high with her plans of escape, she swung the door right open, no thought of being discreet.

The grin promptly disappeared as she found herself face to face with a man exactly one inch taller than her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Conclusion. I still just couldn’t find a way to fit in Levy’s hotel experience, because I’m not sure how long I want it to be, and I have several drafts of different ways it could pan out. Did anyone else really like her taking out Juvia? I have this habit, when I’m bored, of imagining different situations I could get out of a kidnapping or whatever situation. I guess Cana had it easier, since her captor literally uncuffed her. Yeah, Juvia really isn’t talented in close up combat. 
> 
> I’d say I’ll update soon, but I don’t want to lie again. Up as soon as I find the energy to. Later.


	8. The Candy Room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> levy and wendy explore the candy room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> helloooo happy belated mother's day to anyone celebrating

**Cana**

She’d expected him to be taller. She really had.

Cana found herself gawking quite open mouthedly at the man in front of her, and suddenly every thought that he wasn’t worth worrying about anymore flew from her head, because he was _here_ , this was _the first time she’d ever seen him_ , in the flesh and blood. A nagging voice in the back of her head told her that she should be doing something, instead of just staring, but her shock dominated this.

The man in front of her, however, had no idea why this girl that’d he’d never seen in his life was staring so obviously at him. Seriously, did this generation not even have the audacity to _hide_ their adoration of his good looks?

Only one of the two people, though, broke out of the staring session. Gildarts caught a glimpse of his fellow guild member tied up and squirming behind the woman, then guild mark on her stomach, and swiftly whipped into his instinct, grabbing her and spinning her into a choke hold.

Cana barely resisted, her paralysis only wearing off once she was helpless. She wriggled, pulling uselessly at the man’s arms, but he was much too strong. Despite their lack in major height difference, he looked almost twice her size, and his bulging arm muscles literally did nothing to help the situation.

“You’re Alberona, right?” he suddenly grumbled, and her struggle stilled. Did he somehow recognize her? Was that why he was here? “Ivan just told me about you. Running away so fast?” Hope died in Cana’s chest. This was her father, but he was not on her side. 

“Let me go,” she growled, but it came out a lot less intimidating than she’d intended, mostly because she was still having trouble seeing this man as her enemy. This was most definitely _not_ the father-daughter reunion she’d grew up dreaming of.

“Yeah, okay kid. What’d you do to poor old Locksar?” he asked suddenly, looking over to the woman still tied up. Juvia was no longer struggling, her face returned to her usual detached, emotional stare, now that her guildmate was in her presence.

“She’s not hurt, if that’s what you’re concerned about,” Cana grumbled. “I was just trying to escape this hell hole.” She tried to move from the hold, feeling her throat get uncomfortable with the arm still pressed lightly against it, but he didn’t budge. She could tell the hold wasn’t exactly aggressive to the point of it suffocating her, but it was still unwelcome. “Could you let me go already?”

“Yeah, I can see that,” he continued, ignoring her. “But it’s a hell of an escape, isn’t it?” Cana stomached the inkling of pride that had crept its way up her throat (her father had just _complimented_ her) and tried to return to her state of being a prisoner. He was her enemy. “Shouldn’t you be in handcuffs?” he asked.

Cana rolled her eyes. “Gloomy here was genius enough to take them off.” Gildarts shot a look to Juvia, who hung her head in shame, an emotion Cana had not seen on her before. She guessed Gildarts was a respected person here or something. The thought made her want to vomit. 

Gildarts sighed, and pushed Cana away from him, roughly. Cana was taken off guard, and only stumbled forward, massaging her throat lightly. “What’re you doing?” she asked suspiciously. Gildarts didn’t reply, and instead walked passed her, reaching down for handcuffs. He clipped them to his belt. “How do you know I won’t run?” she asked, louder. The man snorted. 

“I’d like to see you try, kid.” Cana was surprised once more, but there was obvious truth in his point. He was much older, and much more physically fit than any of the other men Cana had seen here. Running away more wouldn’t last very long, and would probably be a lot more painful than the chokehold.

But this was Cana, so of course she sprinted for it anyway.

She turned swiftly on her heel, grabbing the doorframe for balance as she did a rapid 180 and bolted down the hallway in seconds. She mentally noted in the hurry that the thing she probably hated the most about Raven Tail was it’s inconvenient favoritism towards long, drawn out hallways. She’d only reached halfway down the hallway before his much heavier steps resounded behind her. She tried to quicken the pace, but the end of the hallway was still so far, and sooner than she’d like to admit, her arm was yanked roughly back and she had to come to a halt.

“What was that even for?” GIldarts asked, pissed. He pulled her other arm towards him and finally cuffed her hands together. She sighed and glared at him.

“I wasn’t just gonna let the opportunity pass,” she told him, and he paused after linking her hands together, giving her a hard look. Even though she’d failed, she had to admit she was a bit proud of pissing him off in the process.

He dragged her by her handcuffs back to the room, and she groaned. She secretly wondered if this is what it would’ve felt like if he’d been a normal father. Would he be the type to drag her into her room and ground her, if she snuck out of the house? Would he laugh it off, and give her the keys for the night?

“You fairies are a pain in the ass,” he suddenly told her, breaking the silence. Maybe not the kind to laugh it off.

“Yeah, how annoying it must be for you, kidnapping people and having to deal with them wanting to leave,” Cana retorted.

Gildarts halted, and Cana stopped as well, surprised. “I haven’t kidnapped anyone,” he said quietly. She snuck a side glance at him, but Gildarts was already walking again. She decided to let that comment pass. If it made him feel better that he wasn’t the one actually kidnapping people, only letting them rot away in his workplace, then she’d let him off. As they reached her room once more, he shut the door behind them. 

He went back to freeing Juvia, body positioned so that Cana was still within his vision. Cana ached to cross her arms so she tapped her foot instead, frustrated. She felt useless, just standing there, but it felt like the only option. Once she was free, Juvia stood up immediately, brushing imaginary dirt off her dress and nodding at Gildarts in thanks. “Miss Alberona is still expected to put on the dress requested by the Master.”

Cana groaned dramatically, and Gildarts raised a thick eyebrow. “Dress?”

“Miss Alberona was requested to wear this dress to her dinner with Master Ivan. That is why Juvia took off Miss Alberona’s handcuffs.” To explain, Juvia bent over, neatly picking up the huge gown and folding it in her arms.

Gildarts stared. “What the hell is that?

Cana would’ve laughed at her father quoting her, if the situation hadn’t been so fucking tense.  
\------

**Levy**

Levy McGarden thought she was having the time of her life.

She’d never been on a quest so… exhilerating. She’d never gotten a kick out of winning battle after battle, but at the moment she was quite clearly bathing in the glory of it. Probably because with every team of mages she took down, she was getting one step closer to obtaining the glasses that could assist her in exploring the mysterious book that had fell, quite literally, into her world.

The holo watch blinked on Levy’s wrist and a holographic scoreboard popped up. In first place, with 16 points, were two mages named Freed and Evergreen. In second were a Sherry and Ren, at 15 points, and in third, Levy and Wendy, at 11 points. As Levy watched, two points were added next to her name, giving them 13 points as they stood over their recently finished battle.

“We’re in third place. Where to next?” Levy asked, fixing her headband over her hair and stepping around the two men she’d just stunned. Wendy reached into her skirt pocket and retrieved the map. 

“Right now we’re in the butterfly room…” Levy took another appreciative gaze around the room, which really was quite stunning. If she wasn’t in a hurry to finish the scavenger hunt first, she wished she could stay around longer. “And-- oh!”

Levy whipped her head around, but her friend looked to be in no danger. Instead the girl was standing with her hand to her mouth, eyes wide, and staring at something Levy couldn’t see. “What? Is there someone else here?”

“No, it’s just, just look!” Wendy pointed and squealed lightly. Levy looked to where she was pointing, squinting slightly. For a moment she thought she was just pointing one of the many butterflies floating around the room, but upon close inspection one butterfly stood out against the rest, and it was flying in a slow but obvious path towards Levy. She gasped lightly, but couldn’t take her eyes off the sight, and extended a cautious arm. The butterfly was a very odd pattern, in black and white.

“I’ve read a lot about butterflies, Wendy,” she said, for some reason, in a whisper. “This one looks pretty uni-- oh my _god_.” The insect landed neatly on her arm, but that wasn’t what she was marveling at. As it perched on her skin, it spread its delicate wings, and Levy’s eyes just about popped out of her skull. On the wings was a _message_.

“What, what is it?” Wendy asked excitedly, and hurried to Levy’s side. “Woah.”

Levy bent her head slightly, and as the butterfly stayed firm in its position, she read the next clue.

_Come you have, though you say,_  
_Prove yourself further, and be on your way._

_Find the place where lovers meet, children love, and those with children avoid._

Levy repeated the last line aloud. Wendy tapped her mouth. “Lovers meet.. okay, so restaurants, or somewhere fancy.”

“But children don’t like fancy places,” Levy pointed out. “Children like food, and toy stores, and fun places…”

“Why would people avoid places their kids like?” Wendy wondered aloud. “That sounds like some really mean parents.”

“Maybe its too expensive… or maybe they don’t think it’s healthy!” A light bulb appeared in Levy’s head. “A candy store!”

“Aww, of course. I can’t believe you always get it before I do,” Wendy mock pouted. She began to scan the map again.

“Hey, you got the first clue, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, but that was like, the easiest one.” Levy shifted so that she was looking over the smaller girl’s shoulder at the map. “The candy room is all the way down the hall,” Wendy announced. She folded the map once more and stored it back in her pocket. “Room 269.”

The two made their way out of the room, Levy quite disappointedly. She wished she could stay a bit longer-- the place really was a sight to be saved. Not for the first time, she marveled at the fact that this was only one of many, many meticulously designed rooms in the hotel, all created by one company.

The girls made their way down the brightly lit hallway side by side, footsteps quiet and ears cautious. The hotel was beautiful without the addition of characterized rooms-- each hallway had a soft, relaxing coat of peach paint, decorated with periodic squares of generic art and wide, golden colored lamps. The entire place gave off the vibe of a typical, quaint place seated next to the seaside, with marine colored doors, light wood floors, and an overall tranquil ambience radiating from it. 

“Shh! I hear something.”

The girls pressed themselves against an alcove next to a vending machine in their path, silent. Levy hadn’t heard anything, but she trusted the younger girl’s super human hearing to be the better judge of things. Sure enough, within a few seconds a pair of footsteps resounded through the hall. Levy pressed herself thinner against the wall.

“...no, my love, I don’t think--”

“Ren, sweetie, don’t worry. Chelia explained it to me. I _know_ what I’m doing.” Levy raised her eyebrows at their previous acquaintance's name on a stranger’s lips.

A sigh. “Alright, which room?”

“ _270_.” The number was said especially loud for some reason, but Levy barely noticed, instead exchanging a wary glance with Wendy. That would be right next to their next destination.

“Are you sure it’s _270_?” Again, the word was emphasized, but Levy ignored it.

“Yes, _270_. Oh, look, it’s this one!”

“After you, my love.”

Levy let her unintentionally held in breathe relax as the reassuring sound of a door opening and closing hit her ears. She and Wendy shimmied out of their hiding spot. “Close one,” Wendy noted.

“Not...really. That felt really easy. How did they didn’t notice us?”

“I don’t know, but they didn’t. Come on, let’s just get inside before they come out.” Levy nodded in agreement and the two headed straight for room 269. A plaque on the door neatly read “CANDY ROOM” in fine print.

Inside, Levy had to cover her nose slightly. And her ears. And maybe her eyes, a little bit, because the place was more _cute_ than was probably okay for Levy physically.

Wendy sucked in a slight breath. “Oh… okay.”

Each wall was a taffy pink, with yellow hearts painted symmetrically. The floors were covered in colorful rugs and stands, holding up assortments of multicolored sweets and candies, low sugar pink colored tables and pinker cushions spread out randomly around the room. Sugar wafted in from every vent. On the far end of the room was an obnoxious yellow plastic counter, glass windows shielding the various decorated cakes on display. As if the overwhelming _cute_ wasn’t enough, there was the unwelcomed addition of dollhouse music playing on a radio in the corner of the room. 

“I… I think I need a moment,” Wendy said a moment later, eyes still large.

“This is some serious Madam Puddifoot material…” Levy admitted. “But we don’t have a moment. Come on.”

The girls proceeded to search for the clue, perhaps more hurriedly that unusual. The room was stuffed to the brink with _things_ though, and it didn’t help that the smell was starting to addle with Levy’s brain. At first she was careful in her search, but soon minutes seemed like wasted hours, and she was carelessly overturning opened and ruffled through sweet boxes, not bothering to fix frilly table clothes she’d swiped. Wendy seemed to have even less success in her goal, as she gave in even earlier.

“This is pointless!” she finally groaned. “I’ve overturned every box in this room, and my fingers are covered in honey.” Levy glanced towards her for a second, and then sighed. 

“Here,” she told her, whipping her light pen from her pocket. She drew _water_ in the air and a caricature of the word appeared, with water dripping from the bottom. The water didn’t hit the floor, though, only disappeared midway. Wendy looked at her gratefully before walking over to bathe her hands. Levy turned away, sighing. She tugged on her headband, looking for a place to restart their search. They really had searched every place possible. Just as she was about to check under the table cloths again, the shutting of a door sounded from the room over. She jumped slightly.

“Glad they’re not here,” Wendy murmured. The low murmur of voices was clear through low music, and through the wall separating the rooms. One person seemed to speak up, the words “you don’t have to whisper, you know” traveling to her ears. Levy made to begin her search once more, but in a moment froze, hands halted in their act of pulling on a table cloth as the meaning of the words registered.They had been _whispering._

“Wendy,” she suddenly whispered, and the girl promptly looked up. With Levy’s frantic gesturing of the hand and the disappearance of the “water”, Levy was speaking hushedly once more. “They were whispering before, but we could still hear them.” She explained, fighting to keep eye contact with the girl; her mind was turning.

“Um.. so?” Wendy asked, not catching on.

“ _So_ , those people that entered the room next to ours before us, we haven’t heard _them_ make a peep.”

Wendy squinted a moment. Then much more slowly she nodded in understanding. “And we’ve been here way too long not to find anything. All the other clues were almost in plain sight,” she added.

“Exactly,” Levy nodded, turning and taking a look behind her suspiciously. Something wasn’t right… why hadn’t they heard the couple from before? Why was the clue hidden so meticulously? “I think we should check the room next to us,” she announced. She mumbled more to herself than to Wendy as she turned back to her companion, haltingly. “If nothing turns out to be wrong, we’ll at least earn points by challenging them, and then we can come ba-- Wendy!” 

Levy’s eyes flashed and her pen was in the air on instinct. “Fire!” A trail of flames blazed from the tip of the pen, lashing out at and burning the hand of the woman standing behind Wendy. The smaller girl scrambled towards Levy, shocked at the scene where she previously stood.

The woman who’d attempted to sneak up on her shook out her hand, hissing. “Damn it,” she cursed. “That was _so_ not lovely.” Levy grabbed onto Wendy’s arm, dragging them a few good feet back as a man sneaked out from behind the cake counter, joining the woman’s side. They were both beautiful, the woman with pale skin and flowing bubblegum hair, the man with syrupy skin and bold eyes. The woman gripped a long wooden branch-like club in her hand. She’d intended to knock Wendy out with it.

“Looking for this?” she asked, her voice sugar sweet. The delicate, manicured hand not holding the heavy club rose to level with cherry lips. Her fingers were wrapped around a slip of paper.

“The clue,” Levy breathed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so... the dude was gildarts, not laxus. surprise! please ignore the fact that i forgot that gildarts was much taller than cana


	9. Of Bees and Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> levy and wendy gain a small victory while those left behind in the fairy tail guild contemplate cana's disappearance.

**Wendy**

Wendy had never been much of a fighting mage. Her missions usually consisted of healing sick people, or menial tasks, or tagging along on the missions of her guildmates. She’d never been immediately successful in hand to hand combat either (no matter how many times Cana had attempted to teach her), and most of her attacks required large, open space. This probably explained why she was scared out of her wits in the cramped candy themed hotel room, facing off a woman with an unnervingly large wooden club and a determined glint in her eye.

She took cautious steps back, unable to hide the tremor playing on her hands. The woman continued to stalk forward, eyes trained on the girl. On the other side of the room, Levy’s pen hand was slashing furiously through the air. The script mage no longer found it necessary to speak aloud, her words appearing silently and rapidly in the air in front of her. The solemn faced mage that opposed her revealed himself to be a practicer of wind magic, his eyes narrowed in concentration as he attempted to blow Levy off her feet.

Wendy’s focus was yanked harshly back to her own fight when another step back had her heel come in contact with the wall. She gulped at the same moment the woman smirked. Panicking, Wendy rose a small hand, performing the first attack that came to her mind.

The woman shrieked as blades of air cut through her club, the wood dissembling and falling to a useless pile on the floor. Wendy took the moment to move from her spot on the wall, leaping across a knocked over table to put space between herself and her opponent. She didn’t get far, however, before she squeaked in surprise. A long tree branch seemed to appear out of nowhere, unnaturally curling itself around Wendy’s midsection and pulling her back. She wriggled in its tight hold. She was slowly brought up to the ceiling of the room, where her view was then made clear. The woman’s woodland magic apparently extended further than heavy clubs; she’d somehow willed the overflowing flower pot in the corner of the room to elongate, its sturdy branches bewitched to hold Wendy. 

The woman smiled deviously. “It’s gonna take a lot more than that to defeat me, _sweetie_.” Wendy’s mouth was agape. She went utterly powerless-- she knew no amount of wind could help her out of the thick brambles that were already squeezing into her arms. She struggled to open her mouth, but was at loss at what to say-- her magic required her hands which were in quite the bond at the moment, _literally_.

She didn’t have to say anything though, for in a flash a groan of pain sounded and the branch around her promptly went limp and fell, taking her with it.

She blinked a few times, crawling out of the debris. She winced as she stood-- the fall had done a number on her back, but she could still manage to walk.

“Wendy! Oh god, are you okay?”

Levy rushed over to the other girl, her cheeks flushed. Behind her, both the woman and the man were on the ground, the latter unconscious. 

Wendy’s mouth was agape. “H-how… what…”

“What?” Levy’s eyes were nothing but concerned.

“How did you do that?” Wendy blurted out. She couldn’t match her friend’s gaze, her eyes glued to the sight behind her.

Levy’s cheeks were flushed. “It wasn’t that bad… You know, the other guy wasn’t all that good. He just kept trying the same attack over and over again and… you know.” She cleared her throat. “So you’re okay?”

Wendy’s gaze shifted back to her, blinking several times to regain her focus. She was still surprised from the nonchalant victory her friend had achieved, but she nodded nonetheless. Together they jumped in surprise as their holo watches beeped to life in unison.

“2 points added to Team _Levy and Wendy_.”

Wendy tapped her screen again, selecting the scoreboard icon. “We’re in second place,” she informed. The two exchanged the necessary high five and she continued reading. “We’re at 15 points and… Freed and Evergreen are at 18.”

Levy nodded. She suddenly lit up, as if remembering something, and turned away from her companion. She approached the woman across the room who was just then sitting up. The woman respectfully handed over the slip of paper crinkled in her hand, admitting her partner and her’s defeat. 

“Hope there’s no hard feelings here, sweetie,” she sighed. “I was only in this thing to prove a point to my cousin, anyway. Guess there’s no point continuing if my fiance’s out cold.” She gestured to the man laying a few feet away from her.

“Thank you,” Levy smiled slightly, slipping the paper into her own purse.

“We already deciphered the clue, by the way,” the woman added. “You’re supposed to go to the bee room next.”

Levy made a slight face but thanked her anyway. “C’mon Wendy,” she sighed. She couldn’t keep the unpleasantness out of her next words. “Let’s head for the… bee room.”  
\---------

**Makarov**

Pacing was a regular practice for many people. Whether it was used for coping with stress, or anxiety, or simply to get their thoughts flowing.

Makarov Dreyar couldn’t really say he was a fan of the habit. It was too much motion, and simply set his nerves further over the edge.

Instead he prefered to sit in silence, whether it be alone or with uncomfortable company. The particular situation being described was the former, thankfully.

He couldn’t help the long, tired sigh that was drawn from his lips. Tension was building up in his guild, or what was left of it. Erza had informed minutes ago that Cana had not shown up for her morning shift looking over the guild. This, added to the fact that she’d been nowhere to be seen when Mirajane had gone to relieve her of her shift two days ago, was enough to raise questions. Cana didn’t live much of a recluse’s life, and therefore, naturally, her closest friends had gone to check up her apartment. Loke and Gray returned with the somber news of an empty apartment.

Makarov, of course, was not one to draw conclusions, but the disappearance of one of his mages worried him nonetheless. Should he pursue her location, or simply let it go? He knew that some of his mages had adopted silence and distancing themselves to cope with the war in the air-- Lucy, for example. But he’d never seen that sort of behavior within Cana, and therefore chances of her being in harm’s way sounded more and more realistic with every passing moment.

He soon found himself interrupted from his thoughts, however, as the door to his office trembled slightly before toppling over and landing on the floor of his shaded office with a dull _thump_. Erza stood still in the doorway, mouth parted in surprise and fist raised as if still getting ready to knock. “Can I…?”

“Come in,” Makarov said quietly, motioning to the chair reserved in front of his desk. The redhead accepted, folding herself in the dusty armchair and taking a sweeping gaze of the room. 

“This place is looks like crap,” she finally sighed after a few moments. Makarov nodded in agreement. He’d opted to personally fill in for Cana and her shift, and had taken to his office on the second floor. It probably wasn’t the safest route, considering the second floor had practically collapsed. It also definitely fit the description of “crap”.

The numerous books from the short bookshelf had toppled to the floor, his once long and elegant desk was scratched up, and the chairs were each missing a limb, whether it be a arm or a foot or both. The floor was scattered with papers and several broken photo frames. The overall ambience of the room was shady-- no one had stepped foot in it for days. The only feature of the room that seemed untouched by vandalism was the curtained window (granted, the curtains now remained in a heap at the floor) behind the desk. Past it, one could glimpse the swaying forest of Magnolia’s more rural half. The sight was a calming one, and a stark contrast to the rest of the room. It was almost more realistic to imagine it as an abstract painting on a wall, really. It was too bright, too peaceful looking for the depressing room.

“Any news of Cana?” He already knew the answer, but her slight shake of the head brought another sigh out of him regardless.

“Master, I came to ask your opinion…” The usually bold mage fidgeted slightly, like the words about to the come out of her own mouth made her nervous. “Do you… do you believe Raven Tail has something to do with her disappearance?”

Makarov’s forehead immediately creased. He opened his mouth to respond, but closed it after hesitation. Finally he closed his eyes, leaning back in his seat and letting a small curse whisper under his breath.

“It was idiotic of me not to think of that,” he admitted. “This is exactly what Iva-- what Raven Tail would do. He--they always played dirty…”

Erza didn’t show any confusion, but instead was blunt with her next question. “How much do you know about Ivan Durhams, master?”

Makarov froze and regarded the young woman with new, cautious eyes. “Where did you learn that name, Erza?”

The redhead relaxed in her seat, crossing her arms. “I do my research when it comes to people shooting holes through my guild,” she said simply. “And I know that Ivan Durhams appeared out of the blue a couple of years ago, and the first thing he did was start a dark guild called Raven Tail.”

“They’re legal, now, actually,” Makarov informed her tiredly. “Barely… the Council’s constantly considering writing them off again.”

“What’s keeping them from it? Mages from there are constantly doing time in the South Magnolia’s prison,” she muttered.

Makarov shook his head. “It’s more complicated than that. Ivan… Durhams, is a very rich man. Nobody knows how-- nobody knows who he even was before he began Raven Tail. He has several council members in his pocket already. He’s scared half the council, and bribed the rest,” Makarov said bitterly.

“So… do you think we should do something? Retrieve Cana?” Erza asked after some pause. The question hung in the air for a moment before Makarov finally answered.

“No.”

“I--” Erza halted again, and let her confoundment show. “What?”

“This is a delicate situation, Erza. Going ahead on the offense will only cause more trouble. Not to mention, nobody’s ever been able to find the headquarters for Raven Tail. They’re a very secretive guild.”

The redhead let that sink in for a moment. “You’re right, but… If she really is being held by Raven Tail, then we can’t just let it go.”

“We won’t,” Makarov promised. “We simply must wait. If Ivan is anything, he’s smart. He obviously has Cana for a reason-- and he will reveal it shortly. I’m… sure of it.”

Erza didn’t let his uncertainty pass. “You don’t sound sure, Master.” Makarov looked, down, avoiding his mage’s gaze.

“Being sure that my family will be safe is all I have right now, Erza.”  
\---------

**Erza**

The path of the forest was crowded, and long. Wide, and yet barely empty enough for a human to pass comfortably.

There were leaves scattered, some dancing luxuriously upon the molten dirt grounding, others cramped under the sky-bending trees. Evergreens with plain intimidating emerald needles, jutting out fashionably, and lower embarrassing stems, reaching into the forest floor with roots that had surely been along for more than a few hundred years at least.

The forest was quiet. The greenery was bursting at the seams with bountiful suppliance, yet not an organism was in sight, the area devoid of any sign of a living thing. They say that even in the most silentness, the wind can be sounded. They must have it wrong.

Suddenly a figure of black cloak became visible, strutting down the scarlet path, boots intact and coat around. They carried themself with a sense of modest dignity and propriety, chest held up, stride even and cloak billowing. They reached where the dirt path ended abruptly before raising one gloved hand in greeting and speaking clearly.

“Jellal?” The name is whispered softly, apprehensively. The air was silent for a few minutes, but the cloaked figure waited patiently. Finally the air in front of them shivered and a hazy projection of a human figure began to form. Within seconds, a vividly realistic replica of Jellal Fernandes stood at the end of the path.

“Erza!” He seemed surprised, and his voice came off as unusually happy. He quickly put on a more solemn expression. “I mean, Erza. Hey. Long time no see.”

“Hey, Jellal.” Erza finally pulled down her hood, letting her red locks tumble freely over her cloak.

“What’re you doing here, Erza? Do you realize how dangerous this is? This part of the wood is...” 

“I can take care of myself, Jellal.” Erza said with teeth clenched. Her tone softened after realizing how she’d sounded. “Besides, it’s not like it’s my first time here. How have you been? How’s Meredy?”

The man shrugged a bit before turning and walking into the dense foliage. Erza followed, familiar with the path that the two had taken many times before. “Not much has changed. And Meredy… she’s still…. you know,” he finished tiredly.

Erza nodded to show her understanding. She knew their trio had some months prior become a duo. She hadn’t known Ultear all that personally, but her death had obviously taken weight on Jellal, and apparently, crushed Meredy. She hadn’t seen the young girl in ages-- Jellal informed her that she didn’t come out for missions as often.

They eventually reached a small woodland clearing. Beams of sunlight filtered down on the patchy forest floor, blessing it with warmth. Snitchzy flowers peppered the area, popping out of the cracks in the ground, the sides of the boulders, even the branches of some overlooking trees. The mossy floor softened under Erza’s boot, and the sun poured down on her like a cup of hot chocolate on Christmas Eve. A small stream gurgled near by, and pebbles flipped through the running water. Still, no animals arrived, yet Erza developed a curious feeling that they once had occupied the area. It felt very… alive.

“This place is just as beautiful every time,” Erza whispered, as if speaking any louder would disturb the gentle piece.

“No one really comes here. It’s nice,” Jellal said nonchalantly, but was silently pleased by the look of contentment on his companion’s face. He watched as she walked from her fixated spot next to him to around the clearing. Her cloak lusciously flowed behind her, and she gave off the impression of a queen. She fingered the gray boulders that jutted out from the ground and rubbed her palms along the jagged barks of the evergreen trees. She closed her eyes and inhaled the forest aroma blissfully.

He remembered that she went through this process every time she visited. Like she needed to make sure to show her satisfaction every time. She sighed to herself and kneeled down on the mossy ground. She gestured for him to some sit next to her, and he did, cross-legged.

“I didn’t come here just to say hi,” she admitted, her tone serious.

“I figured as much.”

“The truth is… I mean...” Erza stumbled over her words. She bowed her head. How could she phrase what she was thinking? What she was thinking of doing, and what was going on in her guild? How could she even use words to describe the incredible favor she wanted to ask of him?

“Erza?” Jellal looked at her with a concerned expression. “If something’s wrong… you can tell me.” He hesitated slightly before reaching over to place his hand over her’s. She jumped at the action and he immediately drew his hand back, regretting his decision. His face became reserved once more.

She looked over at him with an expression he couldn’t decipher, before delivering her next words very slowly. “I’m sorry. Things have been... tense.”

His brow furrowed. “Did something happen?”

Her brow rose in response. “You mean… you haven’t heard?”

“What happened?”

“I’m pretty sure it was in the news at some point… Raven Tail destroyed our guild building a week or so ago,” she told him. His face instantly paled, but he said nothing, and she took the opportunity to explain herself further. She found the words coming out of her more easily after a while. She was determined not to break eye contact with him as both her words and her tone grew increasingly grave. When she finally voiced her plan to rescue Cana, he frowned.

“Erza, I think you’re underestimating how dangerous Raven Tail is.”

“I’m not,” she promised. “I get it, they’re not afraid to kill, but--”

“Have you talked to Makarov about this?” He cut off. He groaned when she pointedly looked away. She was almost surprised how quickly his distant mask had fell when she told him her plan. Or, moreover, her lack of one.

“Do you even know where their headquarters are?” He asked accusingly.

“Actually, I… was hoping you could help me with that,” she told him lamely. He stared at her blankly for a few moments before rising and starting to walk away from the clearing. He hadn’t even heard her get up behind him when a small gloved hand grabbed his wrist. Her fingers halted him in his spot.

“I know… I know you don’t like me reaching out to you. And, I mean, obviously that’s just idiotic,” she said boldly. “But I really need your help here. You’re the only person I knew I could come to, and the only person I know who could handle something like this.” She shifted from foot to foot when he didn’t move from his frozen stance. “I really need you right now. I’m… I’m really scared of what’s going on,” she confessed. He turned back to her, mouth parted slightly.

“I hate feeling scared, and my life…” She gave a bitter laugh. “It feels like hell even when I’m in my own home, Jellal. I have nothing to do but sit at home everyday, because my friends are distanced from each other and my job’s gone. I can’t even go _outside_ , because the biggest building in the skyline looks like warzone. Even… even the master looks hopeless. I can’t just let one of my guildmates stay in a dark guild while he waits for her to come back.”  
\----------

**Jellal**

Erza’s eyes connected with his once her speech finished. Her hand was still warmly clutched around his. The serene green forest still swayed silently, but both of their quiet breathing was now audible.

Jellal’s heart and his common sense battled fiercely, coming up at odds of what in the world to do, to say, to even _think_ at the moment. All he could process was that the woman who was forbidden from loving was holding him, after the ages he had spent missing her comfort, her warmth. He knew getting involved with Erza’s missions would only bring trouble, and only remind him more that he was undeserving of her. 

Yet at the same time, he could fully imagine her pursuing the suicidal plan whether or not he agreed. He could fully imagine her walking into Raven Tail by herself, and that thought alone terrified him.

“Fine.” Her mouth went agape before widening into a grateful smile. He ignored the way it made his stomach flutter, instead removing her hand from his wrist. “Come back in a few days, though.” She opened her mouth to protest but he quickly cut her off. “I’ll talk to Meredy. She probably has some information on them. She and Ultear were in contact with a lot of dark guilds in their criminal days.”

Erza nodded in acceptance. “I’ll see you then.”

“Yeah, see you then.” His holographic form slowly faded out till the redhead was left alone in the clearing. She pulled her hood back up and made her way home.


	10. Dinner with Mr. Durhams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> cana endures the longest, most manipulative and most drawn out dinner ever.

**Cana**

As she was led, or rather, shoved, ungraciously through the door to the dining room by her poor mannered excuse of a father, a few observations were added to Cana’s cluttered head.

One, Ivan was nowhere to be seen. 

Two, the dining room was _beautiful_.

And three, her gown was _fucking tight_.

She sighed in unrestrained discomfort, plucking at the unnecessarily tight material wrapped around waist. It snapped stubbornly back. She let her gaze sweep the room, taking in the low hanging crystal chandelier, mahagony furniture and maroon, decorated walls with reluctant admiration. The man might be diabolical, but he did have taste. The doors shut loudly behind her, and she was left by herself in the vast, refined room.

“Ivan?” 

She called his name out somewhat doubtfully and almost immediately cursed herself for the underlying weakness that slipped into her voice. The hours preceding this dinner had been spent in enough contemplating to last a lifetime. Her object was to get as much out of him as she could, while at the same time letting as little as possible out. Though his objective remained a mystery to her, she had dealt with enough men such as himself to fill a book. Granted, she’d never been pushed as far as being taken prisoner and questioned, but most dark guilds worked the same way-- their masters always had a plan, of course, a _genius_ plan, that they believed had no chances of failing. Ivan hadn’t shown any sign of having a uniqueness in that department. She just needed to figure out where _she_ fit in in the entire thing.

Figuring staying frozen in her spot at the front of the room wouldn’t do much to make her look better, she slowly peeled herself away. The decor of the room resembled every other room she’d been in since the beginning of her stay in Fairy Tail. The dark walls flickered with the ghosts of cackling orange flames, held in shady bronze torches. Apart from the torches, the majority of the wall space was taken over by crawling, juniper colored vines. Not for the first time, Cana wondered what the man’s obsession with them was. She idly let her fingers skim over and wrap around a leaf of the thick climbing plants and wondered where they even grew from.

“Magic.”

Cana jumped at the heavily accented voice, then swore, turning to face its owner. The man really was a sight, even if it wasn’t her first time meeting him. His bright red robes stuck out like a thorn in the room’s gloomy design, and his lazy, oiled black locks swayed slightly as he tilted his head to consider her.

“Might I say that you look absolutely stunning this evening?” When she made no sign of responding, he continued. “The plants, they are held in place by magic,” he told her, walking up to her side and picking up a stray vine. She bristled at their proximity, but said nothing.

“So they’re fake,” she concluded.

He shook his head, his tanned features sinking into a frown. “Not fake, magic.”

She raised a brow, turning to face him. _This is the beginning of a very long dinner_ , she noted, _but I might as well humor him if it puts him in a better mood_. “If they can’t grow, and aren’t held by their own natural will, then they’re fake.”

“So, in your opinion, anything with magic involved can no longer be considered natural?” 

She narrowed her eyes slightly before giving her answer. “Sure.”

He smiled, as if she’d said exactly what he wanted her to, then let his hand retract from it’s position on the wall. “Well then,” he huffed, and she got the impression their conversation hadn’t been primarily speaking about vines. “Are you hungry, _Mademoiselle_?” And with that simple word, the hairs on the back of Cana’s neck stood to attention.

“Starving.”  
\--------

Her biggest mistake when first meeting Ivan Dreyar was being herself.

Her usual abundance of confidence had led her to looking only foolish in front of him, in his grand throne room, with his mages as an audience, only hours earlier. Now, as she carefully seated herself at the end of the table across from him, she was the epitome of control. She held back her body’s groan of disapproval at the dress probably fit for a pole, and made no notice of the amazingly soft cushion that met her bottom as she lowered herself into her seat.

Her poise, however, vanished down the drain the instant she noticed the three heads mounted on the wall across from her.

She blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “What the _fuck_ is that?”

The man seating himself below the monstrosity looked up at her sudden outburst, but quickly melted into another charming smile as he realized the object of her attention.

“I see you have noticed _mon ami_ ,” he chuckled lightly, before sitting at the the head of the table, opposite from her.

“What kind of name is that?” Cana inquired half heartedly, eyeing the mounted sculpture with obvious unease. She could tell, after examining it for a few more seconds, that the heads weren’t real, but their proximity to being so sent her appetite flying anyway. It was greatly similar to the other sculpture she’d seen sitting on a pedestal in the throne room earlier. The sliced necks were all stuck to a single, long plaque, and though there was no label, the horrified expressions on each of their faces spoke more than words ever could.

“Not a name,” he corrected. “ _Mon ami_ , meaning ‘my friend’.”

Cana spared a questioning glance. “Is that Spanish or something?” Her mood took a hop for the better when she saw him wince at the comment.

“French,” he said through gritted teeth. “It’s french. Shall we begin eating?” He picked up a silver fork, looking pointedly at the heap of spaghetti sitting on the dinner plate in front of him.

“You don’t look french,” she remarked, ignoring his attempt to change the subject. She pretended to scrutinize him and chose to leave out the fact that she didn’t actually have a clue how french people were supposed to look.

She was half surprised to see the rare scowl that marred his features. “I’m _not_.” She raised a brow at the in his swell in volume, and he just as quickly let his voice drop back to its usual suave tone. “I’ve just… traveled greatly, over the years. I’ve simply taken a liking to the language of the French,” he explained, though the razor-thin wrinkle on his forehead suggested she had found on a touchy subject.

“But enough about _me_.” He shifted, so that he was leaning forward on the table, elbows resting parallel to the dinner plate between them. “I can say with full honesty--” she didn’t bother to hold back her snort of disbelief, “--that it’s a great honor to have the one and only Cana Alberona dining with me.”

“Is it?” She cocked her head to the side, crossing her arms. “What do you even know about me?”

“Well,” he started, pausing to take a hefty sum of spaghetti and let it slip down his throat. “You’re quite a celebrity in Magnolia, aren’t you? One of _Fairy Tail’s_ best.” She caught the way her guild name was said with displeasure on his tongue and held onto it.

“You saying you admire the guild you’re trying to destroy?” Her tone was incredulous.

His lip curled. “Hardly. But one can admire individuals without admiring where they’re from, no?”

She shrugged. “Maybe.” 

A stagnant silence ensued between the two. The only sound in the room was the periodic clinking of fork on plate as Ivan inhaled the meal before him. Despite her sore stomach and dry throat from not having eaten since who knew when, Cana reminded herself that accepting the food would be completely idiotic. It could be poisoned, or drugged, or a million other things. This did not go unnoticed by Ivan, however, as he took notice of his guest’s refusal to touch the plate in front of her.

“Not starving anymore?”

She gave a sarcastic laugh. “I’m not an idiot, I’m not gonna eat food set out by the guy holding me prisoner.” Her voice was cold, but she didn’t let her growing frustration show. She just needed to be _patient_ , even if it was something she wasn’t used to.

The man at the root of her frustration smirked. “Is that so?” Her body went rigid when he suddenly moved to grab something from under the table. Her guard immediately fell and her mouth opened in a miniscule gasp. His hand resurface waving a tall, dark bottle of wine that made her want to whimper.

“Not even a little… thirsty?” His smirk grew as a flash of raw vulnerability crossed her face. Seeing liquor for the first time in days was enough to shatter her well built resolve. After a lingering gaze at what she was sure would taste like heaven in her current residence in hell, she let her stare focus on the wall behind Ivan. She couldn’t get through this if it was just _staring_ her in the face like that.

“Not at all.” She attempted nonchalance and was grateful enough when it pulled through, even if only by a hair.

Ivan only sighed and raised his hands in mock surrender. “You’re even stronger than what I needed, Mademoiselle.” She gulped and pointedly ignored the sudden drying of her tongue as he popped the cork open and poured its burgundy contents into a decorative glass before him. Another pool of spaghetti was forked into his mouth.

_You’re stronger than I needed._

She promptly jerked her head up as the wine left her mind and mulled over his last words. _So he was ready to talk, huh?_

“And what exactly do you need me for?” She countered, slipping into her diplomatic role once more.

“Ah, ready to talk details, are we?” He chuckled. She stared. “Alright, I guess it’s been long enough. I asked two of my men to bring you in because I have a… job for you.”

“A job.”

“ _Oui_ , a job. And though you might be looking at me as the villain here--”

“--because you _are_ \--”

“--you might consider cooperating anyway, before things take a turn for the ugly.” He delivered his last words without a trace of his practiced charisma. Cana scoffed at the threat and their eyes locked into a fierce battle across the long table. As neither party backed down, the atmosphere dipped to an icy temperature within seconds. The staredown was finally interrupted when Ivan finally sighed, breaking his gaze and settling on taking a large gulp of his wine. Cana leaned back in her chair. She didn’t bother to hide her satisfied smirk.

“What would you do if I told you Fairy Tail was the guild at fault here, Mademoiselle Alberona?”

She snorted. “I’d say you’re a shit liar.”

“Your guild… your _master_ has made plenty of mistakes, Mademoiselle. In fact, they continue to lie, and cheat, and hide the truth,” he continued, fixing her with an earnest look.

Her brow rose. _That_ escalated quickly. “Look you can bargain all you want, but don’t fucking straight out lie to me, Durhams,” she retorted, trying and failing to keep the annoyance out of her voice. “Fairy Tail never cheated its way out of anything. Nothing… nothing _big_ , anyway,” she added in an afterthought. “ _Your_ men wrecked our guildhall. _Your_ men are the ones who’ve been playing dirty with ours all these years, and _your_ men kidnapped _me_. Whatever job you want me to do, you can forget about it. I’m _Fairy Tail_. We don’t work with dark guilds.” 

By the time she was finished his eyes had lost any false warmth. They reverted to their true, beady selves as they peered deliberately at the woman in front of them. It was then that Cana realized the game had been played to its fullest extent, and that the man was ready to state his true intents. He began speaking once more. “I’m sorry you see us that way, but my men and I are not so bad as you think. How much do you know about the Lumen Histoire, Mademoiselle Alberona?”

She gawked at him, caught off guard. “The-- _what_?”

“The Lumen Histoire,” he repeated dryly. “Said to be Fairy Tail’s biggest secret-- hidden somewhere on Earthland. How much do you know about it?”

“I-- It’s--” She stumbled over her words. “Very few people are actually told the specifics,” she finally huffed, eyeing him suspiciously. “Why are you even interested in it?”

He leaned forward, as if he’d been awaiting this particular question. “Because people like _Makarov Dreyar_ have an unfair advantage over the rest of the world. People like him can get out of anything-- do you really think it fair that a man as powerful as him has such an enormous secret? It could be a _weapon_ , for all the rest of us know!”

“Oh, give it a break,” she scoffed. “You don’t care about the rest of the world. You just don’t like the possibility of the old man having something over you. You just want an excuse to start a war!” He went uncharacteristically silent at that. “So that’s what you’re looking for, huh? The Lumen Histoire?”

For the first time since the beginning of the evening, Ivan Durhams chose to be straightforward. “Yes, I am. And you’re going to tell me exactly where it is.”

The room went mute for a shellshocked few seconds before Cana threw her head back and let out the most obnoxious, high pitched sound she’d made in days.

“E-Excuse me?” Ivan stuttered, obviously taken aback. He looked incredulously at the cackling woman in front of him.

Cana fought to speak through her rippling laughter. “Y-you’re actually serious! Oh god, this is fantastic. Fucking fantastic.”

The man’s nostrils flared. “Please, let me in on the joke.”

Cana wiped an absent tear forming at the corner of her eye, voice still somewhat mocking as she spoke. “You think _I_ know where the Lumen Histoire is? Or what it even is?” When he made no move to respond she went on. “Makarov’s the only one in the world that knows about it. Guildmasters of Fairy Tail tell the next master when they know they’re getting too old. You’ll have to take it up with the old man.”

“ _Unfortunately_ ,” he retorted, his tone bitter, “that’s not an option for me. Although I hate to do this, I’m going to have to admit I wasn’t trying to flatter you. I doubt Makarov would give up a secret as big as the Lumen Histoire to a random mage of his,” he ignored the face she made at him, “and therefore I knew simply asking you won’t help me reach my goal.”

Cana’s nails tapped impatiently on her crossed arm. “Well? What do you need me for then?”

The man across from her leaned forward, palms face down on the hard wood of the table. “I’m in need of your speciality.”

She gaped at him. “My-- what?”

His small smirk finally reappeared. “You heard me,” he repeated cockily. “I’m in need of your ability to predict the future.”  
\---------

**Levy**

Levy guessed after defeating the couple singlehandedly, her ego inflated just a smidge too much for her own good.

After leaving the bee room as quickly as possible, she and Wendy had a considerable amount of luck in not crossing paths with any other teams. Apparently the majority of the competitors were already finished with their individual scavenger hunts, because the holo watch on Levy’s wrist hadn’t updated the scoreboard in nearly half an hour. The leading team remained at the top, with eighteen points at this point. Only three ahead of the girls themselves. 

She and Wendy had passed with finesse through several more riddled rooms-- including one room that felt like stepping into the arctic and another that _literally_ had a rainbow spilling out of one of the walls. Each had been vacant.

At the moment they ventured hip to hip down a particularly quiet hallway. It was with a newfound nonchalance that Levy didn’t make a move to stop when they passed two other girls that were slumped against one of the walls, unconscious. Wendy still had the heart to cast a worried gaze.

“I’m feeling really good right now, Wendy,” Levy started, breaking the comfortable silence that had enveloped the two. “I just--I just feel _really_ good. Have I mentioned that?”

The smaller girl giggled in response. “Yeah, you have.”

Idle fists formed at Levy’s side, drumming themselves against her hips simply for the lack of anything else to do. The blue haired mage rattled on. “We’re just… we’re so _close_ , you know? We’re so close to winning, and then to getting the glasses and then-- then to figuring out what’s inside the book.”

Wendy hummed in agreement, a smile playing on her lips. “I tooold you we could do this.”

They were nearing a corner. The older girl looked down at her and grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, I guess you did. How far are we fr--” She froze.

Wendy paused a few feet ahead of her, looking back at her partner in confundlement. “What are y-- _oh_!” The girl was unable to finish question before Levy had grabbed her by the shoulder and all but threw her behind a tall, thickly leaved plant propped against the wall. Within seconds the two were crouched behind the impromptu hiding spot, the younger one gawking at her partner’s sudden actions. Levy’s strained her ears to catch the sound that had come from down the hallway seconds before.

She didn’t have to wait much longer till she was rewarded with two fully grown, heavily built men flying through the hallway and landing on their rumps with an ungraceful _thump_ a few feet from the potted plant. Wendy squeaked in surprise.

“Ha! Did you hear them? ‘ _Stay out of our way we’ll make you_ ’. As _if_. Men are so stupid sometimes, Freed.”

A man emerged from the end of the hallway, accompanied by a woman who appeared to be the owner of the loud, bragging voice bouncing off the walls. Levy’s eyes widened perceptively as she recognized them as the pair she’d bumped into in the hotel lobby just an hour ago. The woman was short, with long, wavy brown locks surrounding her, and her partner was admittedly much stranger in appearance. He was somewhat elegant looking, in a long, flowing overcoat the color of ripe currants, and a head of hair that seemed to stick out even more than Levy’s own bright blue one.

“So you’ve told me,” the man sighed, his tone a bored monotone. “Several times.” The duo stalked down the length of their hallway, stopping a few feet from team they’d sent flying.

One of the men on the ground was obviously out cold, but the other shot up as his attacker neared him. He gulped, his thickly muscled arms raising as a sort of surrender. “A-Alright, we get it. You already got the points. J-Just leave us alone,” he choked out, fear dancing in his eyes. Levy’s own eyes widened.

“Mmm, what d’you think, Freed? Should I leave them alone?” The brunette asked, smirking at her partner.

The man named Freed sighed. “You know, I say yes every time you ask that, and you never actually not leave th--” The woman didn’t wait for him to finish, instead shooting an arm out and startling Levy and Wendy as she summoned a vine from the plant to elongate and bend to her will. Brandishing a wicked smile, she jerked her hand toward the man on the ground, and the plant followed the motion, instantly coiling itself around the man. Wendy gasped, a hand flying to her mouth.

The startled mage on the ground fell back on his knees, writhing in the tight binding. The woman threw her head back in a victorious laugh, and the man beside her simply rolled his eyes. “That’s my favorite part,” she admitted, a hand on her hip. “They always look so _helpless_ on the ground.”

The show proved to have finished as the two continued down the hallway, stepping over the men lying on the ground. The woman had obviously shown herself to be extremely powerful-- not to mention, _ruthless_ \-- and, to anyone with their head on their shoulders, someone to be avoided.

But Levy’s ego was just a bit too swollen at the moment, which is why she chose that exact moment to jump out from behind the potted plant and shout at the top of her lungs, pen already brandished.


	11. Um...

Important:

I hate to let you guys down, but I’m afraid I’m officially discontinuing this story. The chapters I’ve written in the past few months were all bland, and absolutely plotless. Also extremely painful to write-- I just don’t have enough interest for Laxus and Cana or for Fairy Tail.

I still need to stress that I really do truly appreciate all the views/reviews/favorites this story has gotten-- it’s been a long (badly written year) but it was also my first story-- and I appreciate the moderate success I got. I’m not gonna start writing, I have a laxana oneshot coming up in a few days, but other than that I think I’m not gonna write any more Fairy Tail.

Other than that, thank you for everything!


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